Hear the words ‘all inclusive’ and mega resorts overflowing with boisterous sun-seekers might come to mind. What doesn’t instantly appear in the brain, however, is a boutique farmstay in the green hills of south Devon, England.
Opened in early summer, around six years after current owner Caitlin Owens took over the working farm and its on-site (and apparently quite dilapidated) bed and breakfast, Fowlescombe has become one of the UK’s most talked about new openings and a member of a new breed of luxury farmstays.
Although Fowlescombe isn’t technically all-inclusive (food and activities are included; drinks are charged), this full-board model remains novel in small-scale luxury spheres. The appetite, excuse the pun, for all-in rates is clearly growing.
Here, it creates a sense of camaraderie and community. There are just ten suites and a happy sense of routine begins to form. You know you’ll see fellow guests at breakfast, then again at 11am for a farm tour, and at lunch, and then again later in the lounge for 3pm cake. At 5pm, you might meet again for a gin tasting hosted by general manager and resident joker Pim in the Greenhouse. By dinner, you’re all around the communal dining table – albeit served individually rather than one group – and likely again back in the lounge, where people tend to congregate for digestifs and games by the fire.
This routine might sound monotonous. It’s not: it’s comforting. In its short months since opening Fowlescombe has achieved that thing most hotels spend years trying to grow: a proper sense of switched-off relaxation.
Stay
The ten suites (three in the main farmhouse, the rest spread across outbuildings) are all very beautiful – but five minutes swiping through the hotel’s website could tell you that. Designed by creative director Paul Glade, along with a horde of consultants including Harry Gugger of Studio Gugger in Basel, Switzerland, Ryan Cook of Channel in London and Bristol-based interior designer Sophia Gomm, the spaces are Nordic inspired, with whitewashed walls, stripped wooden floors, draped furs and sand-colored soft furnishings. Some suites are self-contained with private kitchenettes, others share a roomy lounge and kitchen, stocked with wines, beers and snacks.
What Fowlescombe really excels at though is the small details that so many hotels forget. The in-room coffee is freshly ground; the teas are loose leaf. The mattresses are made with wool from Fowlescombe’s very own lambs. The robes are fluffy and the slippers are sturdy. Simply but crucially, one button will turn off every light in the suite, and a sensor will turn on a dim bathroom light, saving you from midnight searches for the switch. There aren’t TVs in rooms, but the team can install a projector for movie days.
Dine
Fowlescombe has got dining right. Farm to fork in its truest form, a large majority of ingredients are sourced on site from the organic, regenerative grounds – from lamb and beef to charcuterie and vegetables. Executive chef Elly Wentworth, head gardener Shelley Hutcheon and their teams head out daily to select ingredients for the day’s menus ahead, and what can’t be sourced from the farm is bought only from a small number of trusted nearby producers and suppliers.
Included in that full-board rate is a seemingly all-you-can eat breakfast, an equally hearty lunch and a refined evening meal, all served in the 16-seat Refectory dining room – ask for a seat at the communal table for a front-row view of the open kitchen. Afternoon tea and cake is over in the farmhouse lounge.
Breakfast consists of a light buffet with smoked trout, yoghurts, charcuterie, pastries and fresh juices, and a cooked menu (the brioche french toast is tempting, but the hearty full English called me every day). Lunch is billed as light but the daily soup with chips, toasted sandwich, charcuterie and side salad is anything but.
Evening meals are more formal, with a set four-course menu served to all. No two menus are the same, but they follow a similar vein: seasonal ingredients treated simply and carefully, and cooked right in front of you. Portions aren’t huge but generous feeding throughout the day means they don’t need to be. Service is reliably friendly and personable – the team feel genuinely proud of the plates being put in front of you.
The Loft Suite sits at the very top of the Farmhouse, overlooking the rolling hills below
Guests congregate in the lounge pre- and post-dinner
The Orchard Suite overlooks the apple trees behind the main building
Menus are planned daily based on seasonal harvests
When the sun shines, meals are served al fresco
Relax
There isn’t a spa (yet – the team told me a ‘wellness area’ is coming) which can make afternoons feel long. A long soak in one of the deep bath-tubs does the trick though. For a more exhilarating dose of wellbeing, there’s always a trip to the beach for a cold dip; this excursion is offered on Friday mornings.
Explore
Although oft overlooked (many travelers decide to travel further along the UK’s boot down to Cornwall or stay in the safe confines of the Cotswolds), Devon is a beauty of a county. To the north of Fowlscombe is the blustery Dartmoor, a place long associated with English folklore and one of the few places in the country where wild ponies still roam. Pretty Totnes – with its bookshops and witchy stores – is to the north east, and to the south is upmarket coastal town, Salcombe. And if you’re in this part of the country, take a trip to Plymouth, the launch site of the Mayflower.
Activities included in your room rate vary by season, but might include tours of the 450-acre (depending on the year, hordes of squealing piglets roam free!), yoga, breadmaking, wildflower picking, live music sessions or tea tasting. At an extra cost, the team can organise off-site excursions including paddleboarding, stargazing, cycling tours and nearby market visits. No judgement from me if you choose to not leave Fowlescombe’s cosseting surrounds for days on end, though.
