A Staycation At The Artist Residence In Oxfordshire

I’m trying my hardest to get back into the swing of blogging regularly, however, life keeps throwing about 100 lemons at me every single month that goes by…

When I feel all of the emotions, I feel inspired to write. Not about what is happening or has happened in my life just yet. However, I want to focus on chatting about some of the happy moments I’ve experienced recently.

This includes our little family staycation at my favourite Artist Residence in Oxfordshire.

I actually booked this last year some-time for Joe’s upcoming birthday which was in late Feb, however we had to move it about 3 times due to life-ing situations. We went fairly late in July in the end, and felt completely relaxed, zen, and just simply enjoyed our little family time together. It’s dog friendly, so that’s always a big yes from me.

We stayed at this Artist Residence back in 2021 in the Shepherd’s Hut. And, I’ve been dying to come back ever since.

We did stay at the Artist Residence in Cornwall in 2022, but we had a few problems there when we stayed, such as, some chancers charged all their drinks to our room. That was not ok and we spent AGES telling them we didn’t order rounds and rounds of group drinks, they did remove them from our bill in the end, but this should not have happened. Other than that, I’d say the room’s are also lovely. But I wouldn’t rush back to that particular one. Much prefer the Oxford branch.

This time round, I booked The Stable Suite in Oxford. A larger room for us, which included a massive comfy bed, garden area, sofa, shower room and epic bath-tub.

Every single room at this hotel is beautifully decorated. It’s just lovely to stay there for a few nights.

We had such a lovely time and I’m really glad I went for this room.

This hotel isn’t cheap by any standards, it’s more of a treat for a special occasion.

Anyway, I don’t know what it is about Oxfordshire and this hotel, but we completely switch off from the “online world” and “jobs/responsibilities” when we’re here. Funnily enough, I bought around 6 books with me which obviously I was planning on reading… but I just didn’t get the time or chance to pick one up as I was enjoying the ladies world cup too much, catching up on sleep, enjoying luxurious long bubble baths with the wonderful Bramley products, strolling around Oxford and so on.

We stayed in “The Stable Suite” for 2 nights, however, I feel like we could of squeezed in another night as I wanted to continue with our “relaxed state of minds” and a moment of sadness hit me that I needed to go back home to face reality whilst I was packing.

Why it’s one of my fave boutique hotels…

The staff were amazing, they went above and beyond for us. We actually recognised some of them from the last time we stayed.

Super quick room service when we wanted to eat in the room, free hot chocs on the house, delish food options, although my only criticism would be, they could do with more veggie options on the menu, more so for lunch and dinner.

I would say the Sunday roasts (nut roasts) were incredible and the breakfast menu is really good.

The location is fantastic. Lots of interesting walks near-by and short drives to other towns.

And of course, dog friendly.

Would come back to this hotel in a heart-beat if I could.

Next time, if we come back in a few years… I want to stay in the Barn Suite, however, it’s super spendy. Or perhaps even experience the Brighton or London branches. We shall see…

We haven’t planned any other holidays or breaks this year, other than a one-night-stay somewhere in the UK later on this year.

I did want to explore Italy, every single part of it, however the heat-wave over there, and also the likes of Greece, Spain and others in that area, is just a straight up no from me. The whole “climate crisis” is out of control already with these extreme weather conditions. We have been warned for years… so honestly it shouldn’t be a surprise, but it is heart-breaking to see it already happening.

Also, I did actually experience a bad case of heat-stroke when we flew over to Madrid in late June, it only lasted a day thankfully. It was shocking because I honestly had only been in the sun for maybe around an hour between 8-9am. I know the weather conditions have increased since then, but it was almost 38/39 degrees at times when we were there.

Anyway, until things calm down, then maybe I’ll consider flying to parts of Europe again.

Have you done any UK staycations lately? Where has been your fave so far? Also any dog friendly hotel recommendations, please do let me know below!