Unique Living
Here we come together with our owners, guests and friends to bring you inspiring blog posts to ensure that you can ‘Live Unique’ all year round, long before and after your own Unique Homestays experiences.
Owner Chronicles
On the lake of kings
Walden Lakehouse is a true escape into the wild, nestled on the ´lake of kings´ in Ireland. Here, homeowners Egon and Richard have found their sanctuary.
More by Hannah
Lifestyle
Seven celebration homes to book now for New Year´s Eve
It´s hard to believe it´s just two months until we kiss goodbye to 2024. So, with that, we´re looking ahead to the homes to book to mark the occasion.
Lifestyle
Cotswolds homes to book for a Rivals-inspired romantic break
Jilly Cooper’s iconic 1980s novel Rivals comes to screens this month. So then, how about some romantic Cotswolds homes to remake the scenes in...however you please?
Owner Chronicles
I´m in the garden
Elberta Barn is a living work-of-art. But then, what else would you expect from the home of a former museum curator turned garden designer?
Travellers' Tales
From island to island: a day trip to the Isles of Scilly
In line with our monthly theme of journeys, our latest travellers´ tale is of a day trip over to the Scilly Isles; the UK´s answer to the Seychelles.
Lifestyle
The UK´s best holiday homes with direct beach access
Here, we round-up some of the best UK holiday homes with direct beach access — from Cornwall to Scotland — to book for an off-season seaside stay.
Owner Chronicles
At the beach
The Limit is the type of place that soothes the soul as soon as you step through the door. Here, we uncover its journey from unloved shack to beachside oasis.
Lifestyle
Eight of the best luxury cottages to stay in this Christmas
Christmas is a time to create memories of the everlasting kind. From a Cotswolds cottage to a Suffolk manor, here´s our guide to the best homes to book for a festive escape.
Fare
The best UK restaurants serving food from around the world
Join us on a culinary expedition as we uncover the hidden eateries across our fair British Isles who promise empanadas instead of pasties, and tuna sashimi instead of battered cod.
Owner Chronicles
Family farmhouse to maximalist manor: five decades at Gulliver’s Hall
In our latest chronicle, we hear all about what it’s been like calling the grand and glamorous Gulliver’s Hall in the Cotswolds home for the past 56 years and counting.
Interiors
Britain´s best cabins to rent
With the season of storm-watching and marshmallow-toasting just around the corner, we uncover some of our favourite coastal and countryside cabins to rent in the UK.
Fare
The field guide to summer feasting
´Tis the season of golden hour beach picnics, from-the-garden salads, and mint-specked gooseberry fools. Here is our field guide to the best of British summer feasting.
Owner Chronicles
A window to the world
In our latest chronicle, we speak with property owners Katerina and Tim about The Glasshouse; their nature-embracing home on the Teifi Marshes Reserve in Wales.
Fare
A taste of the wild: the best places to eat in Britain’s National Parks
Here, we take a tour through some of Britain´s 15 National Parks, reveal the secret hideaways to stay in nearby, and round-up the best places to go for some post-stomp grub.
Owner Chronicles
An ode to art
Pomona was once the place that one of Britain’s most prolific sculptors called home. Now, reimagined, it sits proudly within his commemorative sculpture park.
Fare
The UK’s best homes with pools (and what to eat poolside)
The summer season is upon us and, with it, those from-the-garden suppers we yearn for. Here, we round-up some of the UK´s best homes with pools, and the al fresco feasts to eat poolside.
Fare
The great British food renaissance
From pasties in Cornwall to sticky toffee pudding in the Lakes, here is our culinary roadmap of the UK’s most iconic and nostalgic eats. Let’s call it the great British food renaissance.
Owner Chronicles
Like father, like son
In our March chronicle, Henry tells us the tale of his mountain hideaway, Charity; whose old stone walls, and the family memories forged wherein, have lovingly passed from father to son.
Fare
Food fables: Ian Ballantyne
January is behind us and, so, the season of that good winter grub resumes. Here, we speak with maker of feasts, fires, and friends Ian Ballantyne about what food means to him.
Fare
Michelin-starred stays for 2024
The results from the 2024 Michelin guide are in — here we round-up the newcomers and seasoned favourites, and the unique homestays conveniently based nearby.
Owner Chronicles
The disco donjon
Here lies a castle from storybooks. Yorkshire´s Castle Trinity is a place to escape from the everyday: be that in the form of discos after dark, or rambles through deer-speckled grounds.
Fare
How to Christmas, according to Cornwall´s top chefs
We´ve sung "bring us some figgy pudding" and "chestnuts roasting" for forever, as good food at Christmas is an age-old tradition. Here, we speak to the chefs who know how to do it best.
Lifestyle
Unique Homestays´ travel trends for 2024
From all-immersive escapes to far-from-the-city “sleepcations” in Dark Sky areas — here’s what Unique Homestays predicts will be on the rise in the world of UK travel in 2024.
Owner Chronicles
King and queen of the castle
This is the season inbetwixt. In our latest owner chronicle, we speak with Tina and Craig about their Gothic, "most Pugin-inspired property in Britain", Thornemead Castle in Somerset.
Owner Chronicles
Tales from a treehouse
We speak with Jessica and Jason Green about their award-winning home, Verte, learning more about their aesthetic, inspiration, and favourite ways to pass the time together.
Guest Bloggers
Designer insider: Seamus Shanks
This month, we´re celebrating our architectural masterpieces and masterminds. Here, architect and owner of properties Elemental and Usonia, Seamus Shanks, welcomes us into his world.
Owner Chronicles
Into the woods
What better summer house than this - a secret woodland hideaway near Cornwall’s glorious Helford estuary. Here, we speak with the proud owners lucky enough to call it home.
Travellers' Tales
Musings from The Marlings
In a best-of-both-worlds escape to The Cotswolds, childlike nostalgia and sophisticated adulting come in equal measure.
Owner Chronicles
Celestial living in the Welsh mountains
Divine timing came into play when owner Ceri and her husband were seeking a mountain hideaway in the Beacons. Here, we hear the magical story of their celestial Welsh home.
Guest Bloggers
Adventures in the Beacons
This month, in celebration of Britain´s finest peaks, we head to Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons) to understand how action-packed escapes are a must for all that venture here.
Lifestyle
Channel 4’s Extraordinary Escapes
Sandi Toksvig returns with a star-studded line-up of celebrity friends to showcase the very best homes across Britain and Ireland, with a few Unique Homestays visited en route.
Interiors
Unique Homestays x TOAST
Unique Homestays joins forces with TOAST on an interior collaboration at Cornish engine house turned luxury homestay, The Stack.
Owner Chronicles
The culture club
In our latest chronicle, we speak with property owner Monty Whitebloom about how his eccentric Cornish home acts as a retrospective of the colourful life he has lived.
Guest Bloggers
Island makers: Harris Tweed
This month, we´re spotlighting our incredible isles and those lucky enough to call them home. Here, we speak with a well-known member of the Harris Tweed weaving family, Catherine Campbell, about the material´s iconic journey from its early island days to global acclaim.
Owner Chronicles
A life of new heights on a quiet Cornish cliffside
Ukiyo (meaning “floating world” in Japanese) denotes the concept of living in the moment. In our latest owner chronicle, we speak with property owner Simon about how his modernist cliffside hideaway embodies its namesake.
Owner Chronicles
A fairy tale of their own: Once upon a time at Charlotte’s Folly
In a land far away, amidst the glorious green acres of the Bradford Estates in Shropshire, resides the prettiest-in-pink cottage you ever did see. In our latest chronicle, its owner tells us just what life is like living in a fairy tale of their own.
Owner Chronicles
From new build to ocean oasis; a life on the wild Cornish coast
In our latest owner chronicle, we head down to Cornwall’s charming coastal village of Gwithian to speak with owner, Melanie, about her modern, chic beach pad; Senara. Expect Cornish magic and endless views over Godrevy and St Ives.
Travellers' Tales
Birthday celebrations at glorious Gwendolyn
Having your birthday fall in January can feel like a disadvantage, what with the rest of the world mourning the festivities. But when a sepia-hued thatch overlooking the sea comes calling, all January blues are blown out the window.
