In The Stix — Hotel in Great Britain

My wife, myself and our little Labrador have just returned home, after spending a 3 night weekend break in the luxury, that is “In The Stix”. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a glamping site, par excellence, near Rutland Water, adjacent to the village of Greetham, Rutland. If you feel that you need a break from the hurley burley of modern life, that you could do with a reset, then this is the place for you. We arrived just after 4pm on the Friday and wheelbarrowed our luggage down to our “Dome”. We had No6, Normanton, there are 6 domes in all. Once we had unpacked and poured ourselves a glass of wine, the relaxing began. It wasn’t long before we were greeted by the lovely Alex and Darren, the owners, who just could not have been more pleasant and helpful. The next morning we woke to the gentle rustling of canvas on the framework, in our luxurious king size bed, whilst watching the grasses outside being silhouetted onto the dome side wall. After a hearty breakfast from the breakfast hamper we had pre-ordered, we set out to explore the local countryside. There is a myriad of places to visit, with Rutland Water just down the road, walks to experience, cycle ways to explore etc. and of course with the Oakham shops, there’s plenty to keep adults and children enthralled all day. On the Saturday night, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at The Wheatsheaf in Greetham. It is a must if you enjoy good food. It is rated as one of the 50 best Gastro pubs in the UK by the Michelin Guide, and my goodness we could see why, the food was simply devine. You have got to try it, however, booking well in advance is essential to avoid disappointment. Sunday we just chilled out around our lovely dome or in our wood fired hot tub, my wife wants one of these now! It was simply sublime. All too soon it was Monday morning and time to go home. After saying our farewells to Alex and Darren, who had pandered to our every need over the weekend, we set off with some of the warmest memories of any holiday we have had in the past. We will...

I stayed at In the Stix during August holidays with my family and wow, what an amazing place. It was as if we had been transported to our own bit of paradise....

Alex and Darren have created a very special place.It is a real pleasure to stay somewhere were you can see, and feel, the owners care so much about the project and the people staying there.

Our dome was furnished with big leather sofas, comfy beds, wonderful log burner, rugs...there's a mezzanine level where our kids slept (it was their secret place!). The kitchen has everything you need - including a wood burning oven (which you might not have needed but it was super fun to try pizza in it). And of course, there's the hot tub. There is a lot of lighting and tending to fires - but when life is stripped back to basics, one has time to do this. Light the fires, wait a few hours and the jump in the hot tub while the beer can chicken is cooking :-D Our children are 6 and 1.5. They loved the little play area at the end of the field - and the elder one was in and out of the hot tub all day. The stairs in the dome are quite steep so we had to keep a keen eye on our little climber (and he didn't go in the hot tub). It was a magical place for the four nights we were there, and we could have easily stayed longer.

Rutland is a beautiful area to explore, there is much to do if you can drag yourself away from the amazing site. I felt very happy to lazy around and relax, have a walk through the fields to the local pub, read a book, watch the kids exploring and having fun, followed by a cheeky hot tub, who needs southern France when you have this place!

I can't wait to go back each year, to see what Alex and Darren add to the site.One of the best places I have stayed with my family, I look forward to...

I had such high hopes as this was my first time glamping. I love camping and i had great expectations. Sadly these were not met. On arrival we were faced with having to ring an international number to access the gate. Totally ridiculous given there is a coded box with the phob on the gate. It was then a 250 metre walk from the car park to the pod. Thankfully we were the first pod so less to walk. We had heavy luggage and provisions. I suffer from arthritis and being offered the use of a wheel barrow really didn't amuse me. Then told no electricity in the pod. Unable to charge mobiles which we needed for the weekend at Burghley and to keep in touch with children at home. Leaving your phone in a public shepherds hut did not sit well with us. Then there is the hot tub. This was included in the booking. Then received an email seeking additional £40 charge. I wonder how many people paid for this despite there being no mention of such when booking. No fridge and reliant on frozen blocks to keep food and drinks cool. Really didn't work with the warm weather leaving the milk going off. I appreciate it is a remote country location but we were plagued by a high amount of flies. On the upside the bed was extremely comfortable. So many rules and regulations it was hard to relax and enjoy the experience which ultimately led us to leaving early. Then to receive an email blaming us for leaving food in the bin and accusing us of spilling coffee on furniture. We certainly did not do this. I stripped the bed and left things tidy. We are all professional business women. If emptying a bin and washing two cups is to too much hassle for you then you are in the...