Like bucolic glamping, the farm hotel alas gets its posh overhaul with the debut of Soho Farmhouse. About 90-minutes northwest of London Part of the 15 club micro-chain, Soho Farmhouse lays claim to 100-acres of Oxfordshire home to such polished establishments as Crazy Bear and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. Neither foodie or party-minded, Soho Farmhouse aims to satiate urbanites of their farmer crush with enough campfires, horseback riding and foraging to endure a 3-day stay without ever getting bored or doing actual labor.
There's no check-in at Soho Farmhouse, a security booth monitors arrivals and segues guests from their cars and into private carriages that include 1950s milk trucks that whisk them to their cabin. Tip: your car appears later - and completely clean. A total of 40 timbered cabins allows for a built-in community with covered porches, woodsheds, bicycles and rocking chair for the more sedentary. Inside, the visual narrative of Soho's Dean Street and Babington House properties expands for rustic plank floors with slatted wood walls, wood-burning cast iron stoves and stocked-kitchens with Le Creuset cookware for baking up treasures from local markets. Bathing comes with options with in-room clawfoot tubs or outdoor tin bathtubs dripping in endless Cowshed toiletries.
Built for all-weather enjoyment, Soho Farmhouse functions in rain, snow or the occasional sunny day. Its groovy boathouse features both outdoor and indoor pools with further amenities like a winter ice rink, barnhouse cinema and Cowshed Spa with nearby Steam/Sauna/Ice Island. But what Soho Farmhouse seems mostly equipped for is eating, gluttonous eating, with its endless options of Main Barn, Farm Shack, Orchard and Mill Room that reminds us so much of our beloved Babylonstoren right in the middle of England.
