Pamella’s Place is somewhere between a cabin and a cottage, if you can picture it. Part of a collection of five lovely properties on Bonington Farm, this design-led stay is chic but cosy, and feels pretty remote while being entirely accessible – the farm is just 15 minutes’ drive from Loughborough Station. For a group of girlfriends or a few couples (you can even fit up to eight people here), it doesn’t really get better than this – think bedroom windows that look out over fields of grazing horses, bedrooms with heavy, sliding curtains and a huge great dining table laden with candles. It’s cabin living – just not in a rickety, straw bathroom kind of way.
What’s it like inside Pamella’s Place, Bonington Farm?
Step into this sleek triangular lodge and find four bedrooms, stacked on top of each other like a doll’s house. Rooms are ridiculously cute and compact, with tiny shuttered windows and huge great beds topped with cloudlike, fluffy duvets and pillows. This was, genuinely, one of the best beds I have ever slept in.
To your left, you’ll find a fabulous kitchen with salt, pepper, olive oil, tea and coffee and endless cooking supplies – though coffee snobs (like me), beware that it’s the instant stuff, so you might want to bring your own cafetiere and bag of ground coffee. A huge dining table easily fits four, and the walls around it are hung with strange but very fun animal-themed art. The bathroom is equally as glorious, decked out with chequered pink-and-white tiles, brass taps and Aesop soap and hand cream.
What is there to do at Pamella’s Place, Bonington Farm?
Outside, there’s an extra barn out back with even more fun to be had – a wood-fired jacuzzi to spend all night in (extra points for the drinks holders), with an outdoor table and chairs and a barbecue for summer dinners.
But certainly the most memorable feature is a few minutes further along, where you’ll find the Bonington Farm’s Film House – its very own private cinema, which you can book ahead for a three-hour slot. This space is something very special indeed, hung with thick pink curtains which cocoon around enormous, engulfing sofas facing the projector. Choose from films on Disney+, Netflix and the likes, and make sure to raid the snacks basket at the front before the film starts – it’s full of popcorn and fizzy sweets in tiny, pink-and-white striped bags. Are you getting the idea? Bonington Farm knows its aesthetic.
Even with all its sparkling amenities, this place doesn’t feel overly stuffy and posh – partly due to being slap-bang in the middle of the countryside, and partly due to the living space being full of genuinely thoughtful, homely touches: open the cupboard to find shelves stacked with nostalgic board games, and glance in the drawer above to find a Happy Birthday banner, ready to hang up by the window for when you inevitably forgot to buy one.
Where is Bonington Farm?
Bonington Farm is in the village of Sutton Bonington (in the county of Nottinghamshire), somewhere in the middle of Nottingham and Derby. The easiest way to reach it is via a train to Loughborough (80 minutes if you’re coming from St Pancras), and then a quick cab.
Outside, you’re surrounded by nothing but a few very nice cottages and cabins, as well as miles and miles of countryside. Definitely say hello to the very friendly horses, and there’s a number of walking routes you can take for a bit of a day out – it’s around 40 minutes to Sutton Bonington town where you can stop for a coffee, and keep going from there. If you want my advice, you’re best off drinking slightly too much prosecco on the first night and booking out the Film House for your resulting hangover the day after – thank me later.
What to do nearby
Gallery 119: a café and antique shop with incredibly friendly staff and a huge garden full of pots and garden bits to buy.
The King’s Head: a glorious local boozer serving real ale and traditional pub grub, from fish and chips to steak-and-ale pie.
The Anchor Inn: if you’re here in summer, head here – this is the best beer garden around.
Prices for Pamella’s Place start from £150 per night. Book via ToWander UK.