December Scrapbook: The Hip Holiday Happenings
The festive season is in full swing; here's how to navigate it in the countryside. Plus, the hotels on my radar for 2025 and the ornaments to hang on your tree.
Right now, the Cotswolds is a windy, wild landscape. The standing water on the side of the roads is dangerously deep, and the farm tracks are sticky with mud. It’s not totally cold enough to feel like Christmas is coming; it’s all just a bit wet, really. But that doesn’t stop the charm from feeling festive. Twinkly lights have gone up in villages, wreaths are on doors, and I can spot little angels through foggy windows at the top of bright-green trees. It’s a sweet time to cosy on up and go big on the pigs in blankets (I can attest they are very good at The Farmer’s Dog where I went to in a downpour the other night; yes, it was heaving) and the eggnog too (I’m whipping up Martha Stewart’s recipe this year but it’s fiery, so go easy). So here’s how to fully embrace the countryside in all its Christmas cheer, with the ornaments to adorn with too – plus, the planner in me is looking towards next year’s travels, and I’ve put together a list of colourful hotels to bookmark for later.
Today – it was the Bell in Langford’s Christmas fair. Cacklebean Eggs, Wood Bros Distillery, Kingstone Dairy, Walter Rose Butchers, The Pine Line Christmas Trees, and more showed off their goods.
December 8th – It’s quiz night at The Fox in Broadwell. I might be biased, but I think these guys put on the best pub quiz of all. Start thinking up your team name now.
December 9th – The last day to make your wreath at Chippy Flower Farm. Learn how to weave your own willow and moss base before dressing it with seasonal foliage and berries that have been grown on the farm, plus dried flowers, catkins and seed heads too. It might be good timing to do it after Storm Darragh makes its way through. Book here.
December 13th + 20th – You have to be super-quick when booking one of the supper clubs at Cornerhouse, the quietly cool cafe in Eynsham. See here for more.
December 15th – the last date you can see Chastleton House in its 1960s dress up. From Wednesdays to Sundays until then, you can pop into the National Trust house for a glimpse of the last owner’s chaotic but cosy style, with paper chains, tinsel, trees, piles of wrapped presents and Champagne on ice.
December 20th – Bull in Burford will be showing Love Actually in their secret cinema. Bring back the one time of year I think of Colin Frissell from Basildon.
December 21st – Carols by candlelight at Daylesford. Sip on mulled wine or hot cider while the Tippett Quartet play alongside the voices of the Royal Holloway University Choir. Book here.
December 25th – Tired of cooking this year? Worton Kitchen Garden are putting on a very impressive spread for lunch. Kick off with salmon gravadlax and crayfish cocktail before roast goose in spiced quince sauce or beef wellington with ratte potatoes. Of course, Christmas pudding and a sticky sweet tart tatin are also on the menu. Book in here.
New Year’s Eve – only an endless list of parties and places to boogie until the morning. Tom Ravenscroft will be DJing at Deya in Cheltenham for one.
Ongoing – If you haven’t picked up your tree yet, Jolly Nice has a bunch ready to go and choose from. Pick up some ice cream while you’re there.
Until January – the cool couple who double down as the creative brains behind interiors brand Buchanan Studio have put on an immersive installation inside a glasshouse at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, a Belmond Hotel. It’s a beautiful celebration of winter and open to all until the end of January 2025.
Working in the travel writing world, and hospitality world beyond, I’m always hunting, looking, scrolling, and saving interesting spots doing interesting things. It’s second nature at this point; I live and breathe hotels, and it gives me a tremendous amount of joy to help others find cool places to stay. Here are a few I’ve had my eye on: some new, some older, and some opening next year.
Casaviel, Biarritz, France | www.casaviel.fr
A Basque farmhouse-meets-bed-and-breakfast in a 17th-century home on one of Biarritz’s oldest farms. Owners Diane and Lucas, who double down as hosts and casually beautiful surfers, have created an imperfectly perfect space for creativity and gathering. They also whip up a pretty epic breakfast.
Les Bains Gardians, Camargue, France | en.lesbainsgardians.com
In the wetlands of the Rhône Delta, a wonderfully unspoilt part of the Camargue, this four-hectare estate feels every bit cowboy and cinema all in one. It’s from filmmaker-turned-hotelier Jean-Pierre Marois, the disco diva behind Paris’s much-loved 1980s nightclub transformation of Les Bains Douches to Les Bains Paris and is filled with roaming horses, washed-out interiors by Hauvette & Madani and a 70s-style swimming pool worth flopping next to.
Hotel Drei Berge, Switzerland | dreibergehotel.ch/en
It’s been ages since I’ve been skiing, and the need for a snow-filled week of blue-hour views of the Alps and fondue galore has been slowing scratching at my door. There are too many swish mountaintop hotels that have cropped up in the past few years, but one that particularly stood out is this retreat on a cliffside of the Bernese Oberland Alps in Switzerland by Ramdane Touhami, the creative force – alongside his wife – of l’Officine Universelle Buly. It’s retro (vintage posters, camp flags) with a mix of old pieces and contemporary craft, and all doused in very good branding.
Pagostas, Patmos, Greece | pagostas.com
Greece is always a good idea, and I’ve had my beady little eye on this island guest house in Patmos ever since I first read about it on
’ Yolo Journal. It’s soulful, curated, and totally tasteful. Under the eye of owner Grigoris Kambouroglou and his fashion-forward wife Maria – the owner of Athens shop Mouki Mou – five rooms are homely but put together with detail and intent and objets collected from neighbouring islands.
The Zetter Bloomsbury, London, UK | thezetter.com/bloomsbury
It’s been 10 years since the team behind The Zetter opened up a hotel. They have their mainstays in Marylebone and Clerkenwell, two cosy townhouse hideouts for book readers and tub soakers, but their new spot (opening in Autumn next year) in Bloomsbury is set to bring a fresh feel. Bedrooms – set across six 300-year-old buildings – will see four-poster beds, freestanding baths, bay windows, and fireplaces next to views of the British Museum’s gardens. Interiors are by the talented James Thurstan Waterworth, former European Design Director of Soho House and the hand behind The Bradley Hare in Somerset.
This is the first Christmas we are celebrating in our new home. We’re even hosting it this year – we’ve yet to figure out the pudding of choice – but that means starting a brand new set of traditions. We’ve picked up our tree from Burford Garden Centre – that was fun to rummage around rows of sweet-smelling firs and pick our favourite – and now our wreath from Conygree Farm, but for decorations, we’re a bit short on these. So this year, we’ve gone for velvet ribbon and bows made from said ribbon, but I’ve got a folder going of ornaments to pick up for next year. I always like it when you buy things spontaneously – not just because we need ornaments, but rather collecting them from travels, special shops, and markets. If you’re looking for a few more ideas, here are some to check out now (apologies, a few are from Ian Snow, but they really are fun).
Green check bow | Damson Madder
