Best 2018 UK hot tub holiday destinations

THE staycation has grown in popularity over preceding years and with 66% of us planning a break the UK in 2018 (according to ABTA research) it has led to a mini boom for the UK tourist industry.  At Aqua Warehouse we believe enjoying a holiday with friends, family or a romantic break can only be made better with a hot tub. So, we’ve put together our top five favourite UK hot tub holidays, for whatever style of break you’re looking for.

The forest makes for a beautiful escape for the family. Perfect for reconnecting with nature, and spending quality time together as a family. Create unforgettable memories on your forest adventure with Forest Holidays. With 10 locations from Scotland to Cornwall to choose from, you’re spoilt for choice!

If glamping is more your style, try the Sunridge EcoPod in Devon - This takes glamping to a new level! Underfloor heating, luxury German kitchen, remote control colour changing lighting, 3D home cinema snug, games consoles, 10 minutes from a beach and seconds away from your own private hot tub - bliss!

Brook Lodge is one of five detached luxury lodges which are located in idyllic countryside on the Wakes Hall Estate in the breath-taking Colne Valley on the Essex/Suffolk border. Each lodge boasts a verandah and the ultimate indulgence – a soothing Vita Spa 300 series Voeux hot tub, surrounded by 500 acres of land and walks to the village of Wakes Colne.

Knoydart Hide offers stunning luxury Scottish self-catering accommodation for two with hot tub and sauna in a beautiful and secluded woodland setting overlooking Loch Nevis. Total privacy, total luxury, 180 degree breakfast-in-bed forest views from your super-sized antique canopy bed, infra red sauna, outdoor floodlit hot tub, monsoon shower, free wifi throughout and freestanding bath, a truly unique experience.

With cottages and lodges sleeping from 2-9 guests Ta Mill in Cornwall has the facilities to cater for romantic getaways, family holidays, and weddings. The flexibility of self-catering allows you to enjoy the local attractions, but if you really don’t fancy cooking you can ‘rent a chef’ and enjoy a night in with all the luxuries of a night out!


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Anyone for tennis?

EAST ANGLIAN holiday lettings agencies Suffolk Secrets and Norfolk Hideaways have served up a selection of properties with tennis courts. 

Here are some of them …

The Cart Lodge, Brettenham, Suffolk: This restored, traditional property has not only a tennis court but also an outdoor swimming pool. One bedroom, from £358 a week.

The Garden House, Lound, Suffolk/Norfolk border: Formerly a garden centre seed house and sitting in the grounds of Lound Manor, this has been turned into a luxurious bolthole where guests can play tennis. They get a sauna and swimming pool, too. Sleeps two, from £470 a week.

Walnut Barn, Gunthorpe, North Norfolk: A barn conversion in the grounds of the 17th century White Horse Farm, it has a grassed tennis court. Larger groups can book any of the other three barns on the site. Two bedrooms from £950 a week.

West Barn Cottages, Knodishall, nr. Aldeburgh, Suffolk: One of two -restored traditional barns, West Barn Cottage has a large, fully-equipped kitchen. When not playing tennis on the hard-court, there are large grounds for garden games. Larger groups can book the adjacent East Barn Cottage for parties of up to twelve. The beaches of Thorpeness and Alderburgh are two and three miles away respectively. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one dog allowed. Rates from £575 a week.

The Old Rectory, Stanfield, North Norfolk: With a private hard tennis court and games room, this Georgian house is in four acres of gardens. It has a large farmhouse kitchen, formal dining room, and four bathrooms. Five bedrooms, from £1,195 a week.

www.norfolkhideaways.co.uk
www.suffolk-secrets.co.uk

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Newmarket stables tour

DISCOVER #NEWMARKET has organized an exclusive Champion Trainer tour with trainer John Gosden at Dalham Hall Stud on July 18.  
The behind-the-scenes tour will include a morning on the gallops with Mr Gosden –who has won more than 2,500 races around the world – followed by a meeting with the recently-retired Derby and Arc winner, Golden Horn.

Sam Bullard, director of Stallions at Dalham Hall commented: ‘We are delighted to welcome people to see Golden Horn at Dalham Hall on what will be an outstanding opportunity for any racing enthusiast.’

Places on the tour are limited and cost £150 per person. Contact the Discover Newmarket Team on 01638 675509 or book through the website www.discovernewmarket.co.uk


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Picture Credit: By Alarnsen - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia 40165192

Bands by the sea

PLANS are in hand to stage Thorpefest, an outdoor music festival at the Thorpeness Country Club, near Aldeburgh on Suffolk’s Heritage Coast on July 2.

Featuring almost a dozen bands from 12noon until 10pm, the charity concert replaces the Music by the Sea event, which has been held outside the White Lion Hotel on Aldeburgh’s sea front since 2012.

Peter Osborne at organisers TA Hotel Collection said: ‘With music by the Sea attracting more than 10,000 people, it has become necessary to move and revamp the event. The privately-owned Thorpeness Country Club is the perfect secure venue with both indoor and outdoor space including a large lawn overlooking the sea.

‘For the first time, it would be a pre-sold ticketed event welcoming 3,000 people to enjoy some great music performed by national acts, emerging local artists, tribute bands, and favourites from previous years.’

Bands include the Austin Beats, whose repertoire features music made famous by The Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and other artists from the 50s and 60s.

Champagne, beer tents, and a BBQ would be provided by the Thorpeness Dolphin Inn and the White Lion Hotel.

Tickets are priced at £12 per person, or £10 for Thorpeness Country Club members, £8 for under 12s and free for under 5s.

For full details, go to www.thorpenesscountryclub.co.uk, www.whitelion.co.uk, or www.brudenellhotel.co.uk

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Norfolk, Suffolk target the Dutch in tourism drive

#NORFOLK AND #SUFFOLK tourism boards are targeting overseas visitors in their 2016 campaigns. 

Using a combination of new marketing techniques and off-peak prices, tourism businesses in the regions are hoping to attract high-spending overseas visitors. 

Visit Norfolk, working with Visit East Anglia, is taking the lead with a £150,000 New Year tourism campaign to attract Dutch visitors to the two East Anglian counties.

Executive director at Visit East Anglia, Pete Waters, said his team hopes to capitalize on the direct transport links already in place between this region and the Netherlands to increase Dutch visitor numbers by 5%, generating an estimated £2.3 million boost to the local economy.

The campaign would capitalize on the Stena Line ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland and Norwich Airport to Amsterdam. Last year, 198,507 overseas visitors spent £100.82 million in Norfolk – approximately 3.3% of the overall £2.97 billion visitor economy. More than 210,000 foreign visitors spent £86.11 million in Suffolk. 

Chairman of Norfolk Tourist Attractions Association Martin Dupée said: ‘It’s not as hard to get into Norfolk as it once was, but we have still got a way to go. Having that link with European partners is an opportunity that can bring in the international market.’

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Take a break on the wagon

Angela Suter enjoyed a half-term break in East Anglia

‘It was perfect!’

OUR October half-term get-away was in an old showman’s wagon in rural Suffolk, surrounded by the orange, red, and yellow colours of the changing seasons. On the edge of the Stour Valley and overlooking hills and glades,it was perfect!

The wagon stands in its own small garden complete with table, chairs, and a barbeque, and with access through a gate to the 150 acres of Coppins Farm, once a working farm but now a wildlife and wild flower reserve with 57 bird species. Wildlife includes deer and badgers including Butler as named by our daughter Sophie(7) who visited every night for his peanuts!

The wagon has been restored from an empty shell with a leaking roof to a cosy holiday home sleeping four. The kitchen/living room is in the middle of the wagon, with clever storage, a full-size cooker, and a small fridge. A bonus is the half-size bath, not just the shower I expected to find.

The owner, John McGlashan, has thought of everything a family would need, including a microwave stored in the wagon’s underbelly, should one be needed.

For holidaymakers, the farm has two showman’s wagons, and a converted Victorian railway carriage.

www.coppinsfarm.co.uk

Places to visit nearby:

Lavenham… a medieval village founded on the wealth of the wool trade with more than 300 historic buildings. A farmers market on Sunday mornings in the village hall sells local products from meat to bread and soaps.

Clacton Pier … for old-fashioned family seaside fun and only an hour’s drive away in neighbouring Essex. Buy the saver wristband giving unlimited rides for £14.

Sudbury … an historic market town with a range of buildings from timber-framed medieval houses to 19th century silk weavers’ cottages.

Cambridge … the ancient university city has beautiful buildings, The Fitzwilliam Museum (free) and punting on the river – perfect for visitors who love architecture, history, and atmosphere.

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Picture Credit: Andrew Suter

Luxury in Suffolk

THE latest holiday property at the Wilderness Reserve in Suffolk is The Farmhouse, a luxury six-bedroom (all en-suite) house with 17th century origins.

Extended and transformed using local materials and traditional construction methods, it has been re-thatched using locally cut long-straw and reed, and the timber frame meticulously repaired. Its drawing room has an open hearth, and a large country kitchen has seating for 14.

Bay windows open onto a replanted orchard and out to the Wilderness Reserve’s Arcadian pleasure grounds including a tennis court, a naturally-filtered swimming pool, and a lake.

Rates for the Farmhouse start from £695 a night.

The Wilderness Reserve comprises a manor house and luxury cottages for holiday lets – on an exclusive-use basis – in a 4,500-acre estate a short drive from Southwold and Aldeburgh.

The manor house – Sibton Park – is a Grade II* listed, 5-star Georgian country house in hundreds of acres of parkland, woodland rides, lakes, and pleasure grounds. The house can be rented with a chef, butler, waiting staff, and daily housekeeping.

www.wildernessreserve.com

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Picture Credit: www.wildernessreserve.com

Wildlife wonder

THE Disneyland of Wildlife … that’s is how Chris Packham, BBC Springwatch presenter, describes RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk, the location for this year's programme airing from May 25 to June 11. 

According to the show's producers, Minsmere is the most wildlife-rich site in the show's 11 year history. It has 5,600 plants and animals species including 1,000 species of moth and butterfly, 336 kinds of bird and 37 mammal species.


While Springwatch is on the box for just two weeks of the year, it's impact has been much more enduring, according to the tourism industry. George Bradley, general manager of holiday lettings company Suffolk Secrets, said he's looking forward to welcoming wildlife tourists during 2015 following the Springwatch effect. 

Last year, 11,000 people visited the site during filming, double the usual visitor numbers, and it was a major boost to short break tourism throughout the year.

www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/reserves/guide/m/minsmere

 

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Picture Credit: Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) male in flight by Charlesjsharp - Own work, from Sharp Photography. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, FEMALE COMMON BLUE by Mike Darlow from UK Uploaded by Amada Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Marsh Harrier - geograph.org.uk - 923027" by Dave Green. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Flickr - don macauley - Red Deer by Donald Macauley from Carshalton, Surrey, UK - Red DeerUploaded by Amada Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Go east for culture

IN a bid to attract more tourists to East Anglia, Norfolk and Suffolk county councils have hired a design agency to deliver a three-year programme to promote cultural tourism in both counties.

Tourism in the region is currently worth £4.6 billion annually, with approximately £2.8 billion and £1.8 billion generated by Norfolk and Suffolk respectively.

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Get close the nature in Suffolk

VISITORS will be going to Minsmere in Suffolk in a few months' time to see the stars of BBC’s Springwatch for themselves, but the county has many other locations for birdwatching.

Aside from Minsmere, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) manages a number of other reserves in the area including Havergate Island, which has a second nature reserve on what is the largest vegetated shingle spit in Europe. 

Inland, RSPB Lakenheath Fen is one of the few places in the UK where golden orioles breed.

Not far from Southwold, Suffolk Wildlife Trust manages Benacre Broad, a great place to see winter waders on the River Hundred. A few miles down the coast, you might see East Anglian favourites including avocet, bittern, and marsh harriers at the Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve (NNR). Open all year round, the site has a public footpath and bird hide. The NNR also covers Dingle Marshes where otters, one of five species of deer, and natterjack toads can be seen.

The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is open to the public all year round. As well as providing critical care and convalescence for injured wild owls and other birds of prey, the sanctuary has more than 80 raptors. Fully wheelchair-friendly, it also has a sensory garden and gives visitors to get lose with various species of owl, as well as a family group of meerkats, and a number of red squirrels.

www.takemetosuffolk.com

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Picture Credit: "Flying geese over Marsh Farm - geograph.org.uk - 1396242" by Dave Croker via Wikimedia Commons.

Uncover a Suffolk secret

A THREE-STOREY, luxury property with an internationally-renowned concert hall on the doorstep, a rural retreat in a 10-acre nature reserve, and a converted mill with an award-winning farm shop a minute away are just a few of the new properties on Suffolk Secret's books for 2015.

The agency handles 350 self-catering properties, many of which have won Visit England Gold award status. www.suffolk-secrets.co.uk

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Accolade for Visit Suffolk

VISIT SUFFOLK has picked up a national award for its website – www.takemetosuffolk.com.

The TravelMole Awards saw the cream of Britain’s tourism industry representatives competing for honours.

Visit Suffolk's autumn campaign is The Other Side, which highlights aspects of the county's tourist offering themed around local folklore and legend.

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Picture Credit: 'St Edmundsbury Cathedral Exterior, Suffolk, UK' by Diliff (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Secret Suffolk

SELF-CATERING holiday agency Suffolk Secrets has launched its 2015 brochure. 

The agency offers more than 220 coastal cottages in Suffolk. See more - www.suffolk-secrets.co.uk

In Suffolk enjoy some of the outstandingly beautiful places such as this pictured public footpath which runs through Oldbroom Plantation, at the side of Ampton Water.

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Picture Credit: 'Oldbroom Plantation' by Bob Jones via Wikimedia Commons