EXCLUSIVE: Free bubbles and nibbles with every booking (quote CANDYFUN when booking) |
💜 3 luxury retreats to choose from | 🛌 Sleeping 2 adults | 🥂 Fabulous range of bolt-on extras | 🐶 Dog-friendly | Min 2-nights | Weekends From £535
Why we love Bethnal & Bec for a weekend
Pumped with personality, these dog-friendly self-catering retreats in Hertfordshire have taken the rulebook – and torn it up. Here, you get countryside rest and relaxation, loaded with boredom-quashing extras. Just the tonic for those who want more than a hot tub break and stars.
Bethnal & Bec are three self-catering studio cabins in Hertfordshire that look like they’ve just sashayed out of a trendy Soho club together. Two of the retreats are named after Tooting Bec and Bethnal Green (where the owners used to live).
The third cabin, The Foaling Box, is the biggest of the three – but all the cabins boast a city-slick vibe that is as edgy as any cool urban hotel. Think retro throwbacks, kitsch artwork, and polished industrial-chic units. Moreover, all three studios have a wealth of personal touches to help you create unforgettable memories.
Choose from these 3 luxury self-catering studios:
Bethnal: A dog-friendly self-catering retreat for two adults with a roll-top bath at the end of your bed
Bec: Perfect luxury break for two adults and their pooch with a quirky bath and cinema projector
The Foaling Box: The biggest of the three with three huge Velux windows and an outdoor whirlpool bath. And, impressively, beautifully finished using 90% recycled pieces and furniture that were destined for landfill.
Despite the Capital vibe, Bethnal & Bec are not in London. These self-catering stays are rooted in rural Hertfordshire on the edge of the village of Cottered. Here, the air swims with birdsong and you can reach the big smoke in a mere 25 minutes on the train.
The team behind Bethnal & Bec are husband and wife, Vicky and Chris – two ex-Londoners who relocated to this patch of Hertfordshire in 2015. On doing so, they renovated the two dilapidated stables behind their family home. But instead of following the country code for interiors, they mixed the vibrancy of London into the cement, timbers and new paintwork.
Then, for added ‘wow’, they pimped the experience with dine-in hampers, bolt-on local extras, and creative classes and workshops – meaning, when you come and stay, you can have whatever type of weekend you crave. Hot tub, stars and cocktail masterclass? No problem. Pasta-making, seafood supper and sun-soaking? Consider it done.
Inside the luxury retreats
All three luxury self-catering cabins are laid out like studios with open-plan sleeping, living and kitchen areas. You reach Bethnal & Bec via a quirky chipboard hallway, that glows with a neon sign letting you know that you are ‘home’.
Behind their respective front doors, Bethnal & Bec are a rhumba of colourful textiles, statement prints and unique artwork. They both boast modern-style log burners, NEST heating, sun-trap private patios, traditional fire pits, and large hot tubs (carefully placed so you can look out over the Hertfordshire paddocks and fields without interruption).
Both Bethnal & Bec come with a deep sink-and-stay king-sized bed (freshly-dressed in crisp white linen) and a sleek stainless-steel kitchen, which lights up like a spaceship. The Foaling Box – the largest of the three studios and set adjacent to Bethnal & Bec – has a superking bed, a drop-down projector screen (perfect for a movie night in bed) and a Chaise in the corner. Ding dong.
The bathrooms in all three stays are equally impressive: Bec boasts its own large bath (complete with a post-box window) and walk-in shower. Whilst Bethnal goes one step further with a double walk-in rainforest shower and – wait for it – a roll top bath at the end of the bed. Splashdown.
The Foaling Box has an antique rolltop bath and walk-in shower with complimentary Aromatherapy Associates products. Towels, waffle robes and slippers are also provided. Heaven.
The Experiences
Beyond the living spaces, Bethnal, Bec and The Foaling Box are filled with unique extras that prove the owners think ‘outside the box’ and want your romantic weekend stay to be properly bespoke. There’s an Honesty Larder offering artisan treats, such as locally-made gin and self-care goodies.
Vicky and Chris have also created a fully-stocked pantry, Staples, for you to shop from. No need to pack teabags. There’s also a vintage record player that connects to speakers both inside and outside the cabins, and a drinks’ cabinet for sundowners.
If you want to give cooking a miss, just order one of the Dine In Boxes. We love the ‘Popcorn Partaaaaaay’ box that guests can enjoy whilst watching movies on the projector screen (at the end of the bed in Bec and The Foaling Box).
Breakfast is provided too: both cabins come with a whopper breakfast hamper – with fresh bread, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and local bacon (vegetarian and vegan options are also available).
Then there are the curated experiences on offer at Bethnal & Bec to pre-book, such as floristry, cooking classes, wellbeing experiences, foraging and even belly dancing. Along with the pre-order treats, such as cakes, cheeseboards, beer and grazing platters.
It all adds up to an utterly joyful place to stay in Hertfordshire – and one that, quiet simply, blows the lid off most other self-catering options.
The Essentials
- Weekends are from Frid until 11am on Mon and are priced at a flat £535
- HUGE range of curated experiences to book for your stay, including beauty treatments, cooking, yoga, cocktail making, crafting and floristry
- On-site Honesty Larder and Staples Pantry – so you don’t need to shop beforehand!
- Private gardens so you can enjoy a romantic break undisturbed
- Vicky and Chris are on-hand, if you need them, to ensure your stay is perfect
- Sustainability is at the heart of everything – and are passionate about being carbon neutral by end of 2022
- 15% discount for anyone working for the NHS (includes social workers), care homes and hospices, cancer charity volunteers, and anyone directly affected by cancer within the last 3 years, or with a stage 4 diagnosis (please use code: NHSLOVE)
- Lazy Sunday checkout policy for weekend stays (ie: there is no Sunday checkout time)
- Free SuperFast Broadband; 43″ Smart TVs, Netflix preloaded
- Surrounded by walks and cycle tracks; near independent pubs and restaurants
- Cambridge is a 30 minute drive away and London is just 25 minutes by train
- Dog-friendly and family-run
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