We went back to Horse Park Hideaway!
Last year, I was feeling fed up and ended up booking a little cabin retreat near Blackpool to cheer myself up. We stayed in ‘Fern Cabin’ at Horse Park Hideaway for a night, and had the most magical escape. It was a great experience, to be sipping cider in a hot tub, all while being just feet away from my twins who were fast asleep in the cots provided. (I actually wrote about it here if you want to have a quick read)
The garden of the cabin was fully fenced off, so I could happily let even mischievous Twin Two roam about and explore without worrying about him getting into any bother – everything was perfectly safe.
The real selling point for me was the countryside view from anywhere and everywhere in the cabin. Fields, wildlife, and rows of trees all just beyond the fence. We only stayed for one night last year, but it left such a lasting impression on us that I had booked a return stay within a week of being home.
Our return to Horse Park Hideaway
This weekend was our return stay, and we had decided to upgrade to ‘Connie Cabin’ which is the slightly bigger of the two cabins on offer. Cots were ready and waiting for us on arrival, and another child-safe garden – hooray! We stuck Cbeebies on the TV in the background, opened to door to the little garden, and let the twins wander and explore while we unpacked the car. It all worked brilliantly and everyone was very happy.
We relaxed, made some memories with the twins, enjoyed a few drinks in the hot tub while watching Downton Abbey on the big pull down cinema screen, and were truly able to unwind and have a relaxing weekend.
It’s probably worth a mention that on our last night, Twin Two was very sick. He was absolutely fine after a day, but I think it’s well worth a mention that the cabin was fully equipped with everything we needed to deal with my sicky toddler and the mess he created! It’s never much fun dealing with sick at 1am, but it’s certainly made easier when you’ve got everything you need to do a quick clean up in the vicinity!
The Eco Perspective
As we all know, I am all about green living, and while the cabins at Horse Park Hideaway aren’t the most eco-friendly glamping cabins in the world, they’re certainly on the right track, which is great to see!!
Both cabins have refillable bottles when it comes to washing up liquid, multi-surface cleaning spray, and hand soap. This in itself, is better than a lot of hotels and self-catering options when it comes to accommodation, and decanting products into the bottles provided from bigger containers will be stopping loads of single use plastic bottles from going into landfill – hooray! I spoke to Caroline who runs Horse Park Hideaway with Josh, and she told me that some of the product she uses in these bottles is Method, which is also an arguably reasonable eco choice when it comes to what’s available on the supermarket shelves.
On arrival, all appliances (apart from the fridge) were switched off at the walls which is a fab energy saving move. Another super simple planet friendly measure that simply doesn’t exist in a lot of holiday rentals was the existence of a recycling bin! It may sound really silly, but being able to recycle properly while we were away from home was a very welcome change from other places we have stayed.
I’m just thinking out loud here, but I think a really easy way of beautiful retreats like Horse Park Hideaway going greener, would be to rethink some of the cleaning products they use. I wonder if a refill service wouldn’t be very well suited to providing everything needed in a greener way. While they don’t operate as widely as we could do with, it’s always worth being on the lookout for a local refill service. They will deliver eco-friendly household cleaning products to your door in 5L containers (or smaller if you need), and then come and refill them when you’re running low. I work with a wonderful refill service up here in West Yorkshire, and they produce virtually no plastic waste thanks to reusing every single bottle they get. Their deliveries are done in an electric van, and their products are much cheaper than supermarket alternatives. It really is a win-win, and bigger companies are starting to catch on that this is a great way of doing things while being planet friendly.
As is the case with most accommodation, tea and coffee was provided in little jars in the kitchen. I always love this touch, but what would make it even better is if there was a page in the handbook telling me what brand of tea and coffee has been provided, and that it’s responsibly sourced! I am particularly passionate (and nerdy) about where my tea, coffee, and chocolate comes from, so perhaps others wouldn’t be so bothered about it, but I really would be thrilled to see ethical kitchen staples being used!
I’ll leave it here, but basically, this is a gorgeous retreat in the North West. It’s perfect for a little family getaway, and going in the right direction with regards to being green!