Overview

You see the umbrellas first. Red-striped, slightly theatrical, popping up against a façade of honeyed Cotswold stone like a wink from across the street. Everything else on this stretch of road through Clanfield is what you’d expect of an English village. And then these umbrellas. A flirty interruption. The kind of detail that tells you someone here is paying attention.

The Double Red Duke is a coaching inn, built in the sixteenth century, which means for four hundred years people have been arriving here tired from the road, needing a fire and a drink and a bed in that order. Coaching inns were essential infrastructure, the service stations of their era, offering stabling, food, and beds for travelers and the horses that carried them. They were places of exchange: news arrived with the coach, strangers ate at the same table, and the innkeeper was part host, part publican, part intelligence officer. The Double Red Duke carries an echo of that still. It is an inn in the truest sense, a place built to receive people. The bones of the building remember. What has changed is the way it fulfills that purpose.

Location: On The Edge of The Cotswolds

Clanfield is one of those English places that falls between categories. It is not quite the Cotswolds meaning not the sort of village that ends up on a tea towel. It sits in the upper Thames basin, where a dozen other small rivers wind through flat meadows before eventually finding the Thames itself.

This part of Oxfordshire has been lived in for a very long time. Akeman Street, the Roman road that once connected Bath to St Albans, runs just a few miles north of Clanfield, and sections of it are still visible, humps and ridges in otherwise flat fields. By the medieval period, the upper Thames was deep in the wool trade, which is why so many villages here have churches far grander than the settlements they serve. Wool money built them. The merchants of Burford, Witney, and Northleach poured their fortunes into stone and stained glass, and those churches still stand, their spires visible across the fields like punctuation marks in a very long sentence about English ambition. Clanfield itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book, its name likely derived from the Old English clæne feld, meaning clean or open field. It has always been a place people passed through on the way to somewhere else. The inn was built to catch them, and give them rest.

Style and Character

Step through the front door and the inn unfolds in two directions. To one side, a series of small, interconnecting sitting rooms called snugs. Wood panelling, an open fireplace, bookshelves and layers of textiles. Worn leather chairs and comfy sofas welcome you to sit and read. In colder months, you can disappear into one of these rooms with a glass of something and not resurface until the fire burned down.

To the other side, the dining spaces open in a different key: a large, more formal room with exposed beams and an open fire, a wine room, and a bar beneath an atrium that blurs into the back of the house. The effect is of walking into a place that has been added to, room by room, each contributing a new corner, a new mood. Crushed red-velvet chairs. Candlelit wooden tables. A light-filled garden room layered with soft textures and bold colors that manage to be both open and intimate at once.

The hardest decision for me is always which nook to settle into. That is the soul of this place: the gathering spaces. While the rooms and food leave their impressions, it’s all about the in-between places that make this place a refuge to settle into. It’s the kind of place where the corners where you pull a chair closer to the fire or lean across a table toward someone and lose track of what time dinner is supposed to start.

Bedrooms

Each room reads as a nod to the Arts and Crafts movement, with William Morris-inspired wallpapers, colorful but tasteful, the kind of pattern that rewards a second look. A tea and coffee station with homemade cookies restocked daily. A fan for the warmer nights and extra blankets for the cooler ones.

And the bed! The kind of bed that makes you reconsider whether you really need to be anywhere in the morning. All rooms are equipped with Roberts radios with music playing smooth chill tunes when you walk into the room. Most bathrooms have walk-in showers, some rooms have roll-top baths, and all are stocked with 100 Acres products, an all-natural local brand, beautifully scented and generously supplied.

Service

This is what makes this place special and I can say this confidently having stayed at the hotel over a dozen times now. It is hands down the staff. The staff radiating a kind of enjoyment you cannot fake. What I appreciate about those who work at DRD, their kindness isn’t polish, exactly nor is it the practiced warmth of a corporate hotel. It is the feeling of people who like where they work and want you to like being there too. Each time I return, I feel like a family is welcoming me home. You tune into it immediately and it’s this that leaves the lasting impression.

There is also a small spa tucked into a shepherd’s hut in the garden, offering treatments based on the same aromatic 100 Acres products found in the bathrooms.

Food and Drink

I should say that I came for the rooms and stayed for the food. Dinner here was one of those meals that reorganizes your evening.

It began with warm flatbread, local sheep’s cheese, honey, and fresh herbs. A umami dip of eggplant and miso and chopped basil. That combination of salt and fat and sweetness, the acid from the herbs cutting through, the bread still warm enough to tear. I could have stopped there and called it a good night. But this was only a preview. The main course arrived: a crispy-skinned roasted half chicken with a creamy lemon aioli sauce, alongside smashed Royal Jersey potatoes and a green salad dressed in a citrusy vinaigrette with flaky sea salt. All of this accompanied by a glass of red, the grapes flown in from Italy and grown in central London. I wish I could remember the name. And don’t even get me started on the sticky toffee pudding. Quite possibly the best I’ve ever had. Other times when I’ve enjoyed a long dinner, I am too stuffed for more. So when the dessert menu appeared, and I want to and but can’t, so I compromise. They had small sweets: smoked white chocolate fudge. Just enough to close the evening without tipping into excess. This is a kitchen that understands restraint, which is another way of saying it understands pleasure.

When morning comes, breakfast is served in the garden room. You help yourself from a buffet of sourdough breads and pastryes, yogurt, fruit, and cereals spread along the kitchen counter. Hot options include bacon sandwiches and pancakes.

Of all the hotels where I host my groups, the Double Red Duke is consistently a top favorite property. I have watched guests gasp when they first see their rooms, thrilled they get to call this space home for a few nights. I have sat across the table from people eating their first dinner here and heard them say (on more than one occasion) that it was the best meal of their life. But it is the staff who win them over in the end. The way they remember your name by the second morning. The way they make you feel like you belong there and remember comments you’ve made. It is a place that is hard to forget, for all the right reasons. Four hundred years of receiving travelers, and the welcome has only deepened.

Practical Notes

• Double rooms from $225, continental breakfast included

• Free Wi-Fi

• Children welcome; family rooms with bunk beds, extra singles, or cabin beds

• Dogs welcome in several rooms (additional cost)

• Free parking on site

• Traveling by train? Clanfield doesn’t have its own station. From London Paddington, take the train to Oxford (about an hour) or Charlbury (just over an hour direct). From London Marylebone, you can also take a direct train to Oxford. From either station, the hotel is roughly a thirty-minute drive. There is a taxi rank outside Oxford station, but from Charlbury you will need to pre-book a cab, as there is no rank. The hotel can recommend preferred taxi companies. Book your transfer in advance, especially on weekends.

If You Go

Stay: Even a single night resets something. But if you can manage two, you will have time to settle into the sitting rooms and actually read one of the books on those shelves.

Location: Clanfield sits perfectly for exploring the quieter edges of the Cotswolds. Burford is twenty minutes, Witney just beyond and Oxford is half an hour east if you want the city, but the pull of the inn may win.

Do: Walk along the Windrush. Visit the church at Northleach and stand among the wool merchants’ brasses. Drive to Minster Lovell and see the ruined hall by the river, where the story of Francis Lovell, the Yorkist rebel who vanished after the Battle of Stoke Field, ends in silence and stone. Or stay in. Order another glass. Let the fire do the work. Visit Kelmscott Manor, the home of William Morris. I highly recommend as it’s a lovely property to explore and gorgeous garden.

Eat: You will eat well at the Duke itself. But if you want to explore, The Mason Arms across the street also owned by the same group. The Plough at Kelmscott, William Morris’s village, is nearby, as is The Swan at Swinbrook, a Downton-era pub on the Windrush and the lovely Rose and Crown at Shilton.

Shop: Burford Garden Co is twenty minutes up the road.. it’s less a garden center than an emporium of flowers and plants, gorgeous homewares, food and clothing, a fabulous bookshop and art gallery, and all the beautiful things you did not know you needed, with a glasshouse café and restaurant. It’s a whole experience. Trust me.

Double Red Duke Bourton Rd, Clanfield, Bampton, Oxfordshire OX18 2RB

Tel: 01367 810 222

countrycreatures.com

Come With Me to the Cotswolds

6 Nights | Autumn in the Cotswolds | October 19th–25th, 2026

Each October, I lead a small group through seven days of golden-hued villages, wood smoke, and long dinners in cozy country pubs. We begin in Castle Combe, wind through Stourhead’s fiery gardens and the romantic ruins of Old Wardour Castle, walk Arlington Row in Bibury, visit Kelmscott House where William Morris lived his Arts and Crafts dream, and end with three nights at the Double Red Duke itself, where the fire is lit and the staff already feel like family.

This journey is a gathering of kindred spirits who feel the pull toward beauty, history, and belonging. We eat well, we walk gently, we linger long over comfort food. By the farewell dinner, you will have made friendships that outlast the trip. I can promise you that.

If Autumn in The Cotswolds has been tugging at you, perhaps it is time to listen. Join me October 19th–25th, 2026. 7 spots remain.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOUR

About the Author

Welcome - I’m Kyle, the soul behind Sudden Journeys. I’m a writer, photographer, and founder of Sudden Journeys. I’ve spent the last few decades exploring: guiding travelers, leading tours, living abroad, and paying close attention to what landscapes, rooms, and encounters awaken in us. I write about place and belonging, hospitality and gathering, the practice of attention through journaling, and the home life between departures. Originally from a small town south of Nashville; I divide my time between the English countryside, London, and wherever the road takes me next.

Stay a While

If this piece resonated, you’ll find more long-form essays, reflections on journaling and home life, notes on gathering and hospitality, and lived travel writing here on Substack. Paid subscribers receive deeper essays, photography notes, and more intimate reflections.

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Ask me a question, submit feedback or suggest a topic here.

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The plan was simple. Drive north from the Midlands with my two grown kids. Two nights in Haworth, Brontë Country before continuing north through Yorkshire, a detour through the Lake District, watching the landscape shift from hedgerows to dry stone walls to open fells before crossing the border into Scotland where the sky is wider and the road narrowed to a single track lane. Beira's Glen was waiting.

The Scottish Borderlands

This is not the Scotland of postcards. I welcome the remoteness of this part of the UK. There are no tour buses idling outside castle gates, no kilted pipers busking for coins. Dumfries and Galloway is the other Scotland.. the one that gets overlooked on the way to the Highlands. I admit I’ve overlooked it all these years (decades!) with a fast track to the Highlands. But not this time. It sits in the southwestern corner of the country, pressed against the English border, facing the Irish Sea, and shaped by the great arm of the Solway Firth that reaches inland between two nations.

The Solway is a border drawn in water. It has been for centuries. The firth stretches forty miles from the Irish Sea into the low hills of southern Scotland, and its tides are among the fastest in Britain; vast sandflats swallowed twice a day by water that moves with a speed that can still catch the unwary. It is remarkable for the rapidity with which its tides ebb and flow. At low tide, the sands stretch out like another country entirely, silver and wet, broken only by the channels of rivers: the Nith, the Annan, the Esk finding their way to the sea. On clear days, standing on the Criffel circuit above the cottage, you can see across the firth to the fells of the Lake District. Two countries, separated by a shimmer of salt water and centuries of contested ground. Robert Burns wrote of Solway as “this wild place of the world, in the intervals of my labor of discharging a vessel of rum from Antigua.”

This has always been a landscape of crossings and thresholds.. of armies, of loyalties, of faith. In 1685, a young Scottish Covenanter named Margaret Wilson was tied to a stake in the Solway and left to drown with the incoming tide, executed for refusing to acknowledge the King as head of the church. The water that had for centuries carried trade and salmon between Scotland and England carried her, too. The Solway remembers its dead. Folklore of giants and witches, and true recounts of thefts and strife, are rife on both sides of the firth… and sometimes between the two.

New Abbey, Sweetheart Abbey, and Burns

And then there is New Abbey.

New Abbey sits just 20 minutes south of Dumfries, tucked beneath the broad shoulder of Criffel. At one end of the main street stand the red sandstone ruins of Sweetheart Abbey, founded in 1273 by Lady Dervorguilla of Galloway in memory of her husband, John de Balliol. After his death, she had his heart embalmed and placed in a casket of ivory and silver, and she carried it with her for the rest of her life… even, it is said, having it served food at the dining table. When she died in 1290, the heart was buried beside her. The monks named the abbey Dulce Cor, Latin for Sweet Heart. The village took its name from the abbey. The abbey took its name from love. Dervorguilla was no footnote as she was descended from King David I. Her son became King of Scotland. Edward I himself stayed at the abbey while campaigning during the Wars of Independence. You can still walk among its red sandstone walls today, we did… seven hundred years of standing. The light still falls through its empty windows.

And then there is Burns. Robert Burns spent his final years in Dumfries, just seven miles north of where the cottage of Beira’s Glen stands. The Globe Inn, tucked down a narrow close off the High Street, became his favorite howff (a Scots term for a favorite haunt, meeting place, shelter, or tavern) … the place where he drank and argued and etched verses onto windowpanes with a diamond stylus, as if even the inn itself had to hold his words. He knew this landscape intimately. Criffel appears in his poetry, in “The Dumfries Volunteers,” he invoked the very geography visible from the cottage: The Nith shall run to Corsincon, / And Criffel sink in Solway, / Ere we permit a foreign foe / On British ground to rally! The hill and the firth as oath. The landscape itself sworn into service. In July 1796, already gravely ill, Burns traveled to Brow Well on the Solway coast, a poor man’s spa with a mineral spring and not much else. He waded into the water. He drank the waters. When his porter bottle was empty, he told his landlady that the "muckle black deil"(big black devil) had got into his wallet and she brought him the porter anyway. He died eighteen days later, aged thirty-seven.

There is a line from that final period that has stayed with me. Burns, writing to a friend, said simply: Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like the tide.

That is this landscape. It swells and it ebbs. It holds and it lets go. The abbey, the firth, the poet, the hill.. they are all part of the same conversation, spoken in different centuries, about the same things: devotion, loss, the stubbornness of love, and the way a place can carry all of it without breaking. You feel it at the cottage of Beira’s Glen.

Beira’s Glen Overview

Tucked into the folds of rural Dumfries and Galloway, Beira’s Glen feels more like a place discovered… something half-hidden, waiting. I’d been eyeing this property for maybe a year. I finally had a reason to say yes to this Scottish refuge. A former bothy reimagined as a retreat, it sits just outside the historic village of New Abbey, about seven miles south of Dumfries, surrounded by mossy woodland, the sound of gushing water, and the gently rhythm of the natural world. It’s a hidden oasis.

A bothy, in Scotland, is a simple shelter: traditionally a stone cottage left unlocked for walkers, shepherds, or anyone caught out by the weather. They are places of refuge, not comfort. No electricity, no running water, no promise of anything beyond four walls and a roof. The word itself comes from the Gaelic bothan meaning “a small hut”.

Beira’s Glen began as one of these, and though it has been reimagined into something far more refined, the bones of that original purpose remain. It is still, at its core, a place you come to when you need shelter the noise and demands of the world.

We came for a week—my two grown kids and I—not to see Scotland so much as to be still inside it. To retreat. To rest. To read and write and slow cook meals that stretched into long, unhurried conversations. To sleep in and keep the kettle on. To fill the house with mugs of tea and baked things. I had no plan. There was no itinerary for our time except to just be. Just the three of us, sheltered from the daily dramas of life, secure in each other, letting the days find their own shape. Sometimes these are the best kind of days.. unplanned days.

Cottage Location

This is a landscape that opens slowly. From the cottage, you are within reach of the Criffel circuit, where the land rises and reveals wide views across the Solway Firth—on clear days stretching as far as the Lake District. There are waterfalls like Grey Mare's Tail, quiet lochs for fishing, and long, wind-shaped beaches at Rockcliffe and Southerness. A short stroll from the cottage takes you to the Waterloo Monument and the ruins of Sweetheart Abbey. And then there is the night. Galloway Forest (Scotland's first Dark Sky Park) Where the stars are a presence on display! One night, we stood outside on the edge of the first.. the three of us and said almost nothing. There was nothing to say. The sky said it.

Style and Character

There is something deeply grounding about this place. The interiors carry a confidence dressed in jewel greens, earthy hues, neutral tones, a blend of old and new that never feels forced. Antiques sit easily alongside contemporary comforts. Floral wallpapers and scalloped details add a dose of whimsy without tipping into fuss. There is a maturity to the design which I adore. Thoughtful, understated and intentional.

Two wood-burning stoves anchor the home, creating natural gathering points; places to return to at the end of the day. There are two living spaces, plus a cabin-style garden room that feels almost like a threshold between indoors and out. It is country-chic, yes but more than that, it is elemental. A house that expects you to slow down.

Bedrooms and Bathroom

The cottage holds three bedrooms: a king-sized master, a double, and a twin. It is generous without being excessive; designed for small groups, families, or couples who want space to spread out without losing intimacy. I can testify to the comfort of the beds. A dream you sink into each night.

There is one family bathroom, but it feels intentional rather than limiting which includes a bathtub for long soaks, with a separate large shower. Connected to the kitchen is a laundry room with a half bathroom.

Practical Notes

The cottage is dog-friendly (up to three, for an additional fee). There is parking for up to three cars, a fully equipped kitchen, a smart TV, and a highchair available. The enclosed garden is beautifully landscaped surrounded by trees and designed by one of Scotland's leading landscapists. This is a remote setting. Come prepared to settle in.

Beira's Glen Booking Page

• Sleeps 6 (plus cot) across 3 bedrooms

• One family bathroom with large bath and separate shower

• One half bathroom

• Dog-friendly (up to three dogs welcome)

• Two wood-burning stoves

• Fully equipped kitchen + open-plan living

• Enclosed garden with outdoor seating

• Parking available

• Remote setting (this is part of the point ;)

If You Go

Stay

Come for a three days at minimum. This is not a one-night place. It asks something of you: to settle, to notice, to stay long enough for your nervous system to catch up.

Location

Use it as a base, but lightly. The pull here is inward as much as outward. Let the landscape set the pace.

Do

• Walk the Criffel circuit

• Chase waterfalls at Grey Mare’s Tail

• Drive to the coast and follow the tide

• Stargaze in Galloway Forest

• Explore Sweetheart Abbey in the village of New Abbey

• Or do as we did … very little at all

Where to Eat or Buy Provisions

You will want to arrive prepared. Stock up before you come. Dumfries offers the essentials, and small local shops near New Abbey provide the rest.

• In New Abbey, Abbey Cottage Tearoom sits right beside Sweetheart Abbey, a family-run spot that's been baking scones and serving afternoon teas for nearly forty years. There is also a small village store and The New Abbey Arms pub if you are wanting a proper meal.

  In Dumfries, The Globe Inn houses 1610, a Michelin-recommended restaurant, offers seasonal fare crafted from local produce in a contemporary, glass-fronted space.

Then settle in. Cook slowly. Open a bottle of wine. Let dinner stretch into evening without interruption.

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Come With Me to Scotland

6 Days | The Scottish Highlands & Edinburgh | September 6th - 11th 2026

There are landscapes that impress you. And then there are landscapes that rearrange you. Each year, I return to the Scottish Highlands with a small group of travelers. We journey as fellow wayfarers answering a call. We rise early for light that feels almost liturgical. We walk through glens that hold both beauty and grief. We linger long enough for space to become place. This is not a checklist tour. It is a slow unfolding. A gathering of kindred spirits who feel the pull toward wildness, history, ancestry, and the kind of belonging that isn’t be manufactured.

If the Scottish Highlands have been tugging at you perhaps it’s time to listen. To answer the call. Join me and a small band of travelers September 6th - 11th 2026. Together we will spend 3 nights in the highlands and 2 nights in Edinburgh. More info at Sudden Journeys.

Learn More | Scotland Tour 2026

About the Author

Welcome - I’m Kyle, the soul behind Sudden Journeys. I’m a writer, photographer, and founder of Sudden Journeys. I’ve spent the last few decades exploring: guiding travelers, leading tours, living abroad, and paying close attention to what landscapes, rooms, and encounters awaken in us. I write about place and belonging, hospitality and gathering, the practice of attention through journaling, and the home life between departures. Originally from a small town south of Nashville; I divide my time between the English countryside, London, and wherever the road takes me next.

Stay a While

If this piece resonated, you’ll find more long-form essays, reflections on journaling and home life, notes on gathering and hospitality, and lived travel writing here on Substack. Paid subscribers receive deeper essays, photography notes, and more intimate reflections.

Let’s Connect
Ask me a question, submit feedback or suggest a topic here.

💬 Come say hi on Instagram or LinkedIn
🎙️ On the Echoes of Elsewhere podcast, exploring place, migration, and belonging
📞 Have questions about travel? Book a travel planning consultation or email me at kyle@mysuddenjourneys.com

🪩 If you feel moved to like, comment, or share, it helps this work find its way to others who might need it.♥️

There is a dreamy cottage on a small island in the middle of a Norwegian lake.

A timber house built in 1864, when hands shaped logs and winters were long. It stands as a witness to Norway’s crofting history… a way of life that once sustained families and shaped the agricultural soul of this region.

The crofting system here stretches back generations. Lived out on small plots of hard soil, resourceful lives. Many of these places are disappearing now, folding back into forest and forgetting. But this cottage has been restored as a living memory, supported by a local cultural landscape fund so this story can still be seen, touched, stepped into.

When you stand at the forest edge and look toward the house, you feel it. There is a stillness. The isolation reminds you of what it means to be self sufficient and resilient.

This is what I love about Norway. Not only the dramatic landscape, but the intimate scale of its history. A single house, with a single family on a single island. And yet an entire worldview contained within timber walls. Places like this remind us that landscape is not simply a backdrop. It is also a biography.

For much of its life, Havrebakken was what Norwegians call a husmannsplass: a small crofter’s holding tied to a larger farm. The family who lived here did not own the land. Instead, the husmann (tenant farmer) rented the cottage in exchange for labor, working the surrounding fields and helping at the main farm.

Life here would have been modest and demanding. In 1922, records show a family with ten children living in this small house while farming the land around it. At one point eleven people lived within these timber walls, along with a tenant. Havrebakken reflects the rural conditions that shaped Norway in the 1800s: small plots of land, large families, long winters, and relentless work. For many, life in places like this eventually led to a difficult decision… to leave.

Between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, more than 800,000 Norwegians emigrated to the United States. Standing here, you begin to understand how a migration story might begin in a place like this. A small house. A large family. Hard soil and long winters. From houses no larger than Havrebakken, whole family lines once set out across the Atlantic.

The reason I was here at all traces back to that same movement of people. I had come to Norway with my father (three times now) to follow the story of our own family. My dad’s great-grandfather emigrated to America in 1865 from the valley of Espedalen.

Standing in places like this, the distance between past and present narrows in a way that feels almost physical. Perhaps that is why Havrebakken resonates so deeply with Norwegian-American visitors today. It offers a glimpse of the world their ancestors once inhabited: a small house, a patch of land, forest at the back door, and a wide lake stretching toward the horizon.

For anyone drawn to the romance of cottage life, it is something of a dream… listening to rain on the roof, reading by the fire, waking to mist over the water. A cottagecore dream come true.

I’ve been twice and still dream of returning. You can rent the Havrebakken cottage via Airbnb here.

Location

Havrebakken sits on Helgøya, an island in Lake Mjøsa in eastern Norway, about 90 minutes north of Oslo.

The cottage is part of Hovelsrud farm, a historic agricultural property known for its restored gardens and sustainable farming practices. The landscape here is gentle and pastoral.. fields of grain, forest edges, and open lake views rather than dramatic fjords.

Guests have access to hiking trails in the surrounding woods and to the shoreline of Lake Mjøsa nearby. The island itself is known for its farm cafés, local food producers, and quiet country roads ideal for cycling and slow exploration.

Style and Character

The cottage retains the quiet character of a traditional Norwegian farmhouse—timber construction, modest proportions, and an atmosphere that feels rooted in another century.

Inside, the rooms balance historical charm with thoughtful modern updates. A cozy living room centers around a fireplace for long evenings, while the kitchen combines an old wood-style oven with modern appliances. The feeling throughout is warm and unpretentious: wooden floors, simple furnishings, and the sense that this is a home shaped by landscape and seasons rather than design trends.

Outside, a private garden surrounds the house, with open views toward Lake Mjøsa and forest trails beginning just beyond the property.

Bedrooms and Bathroom

The cottage sleeps up to six guests and is arranged over two floors.

Upstairs are two bedrooms:
• One bedroom with a double bed
• A second bedroom with four single beds

The bathroom, recently renovated, includes a modern shower, while the ground floor contains the living room and a well-equipped kitchen with dishwasher and induction cooktop. The layout is simple and family-style: more countryside farmhouse than luxury retreat but that simplicity is very much part of the experience.

Practical Notes

• Sleeps up to six guests
• Two bedrooms located upstairs
• Renovated bathroom with shower
• Fireplace in the living room
• Fully equipped kitchen with modern appliances
• Private garden and outdoor seating
• Hiking trails directly behind the cottage
• Access to Lake Mjøsa nearby
• Located on a working farm with historic gardens and seasonal farm experiences

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If You Go | Stay | Location | Do

• Stay
  Havrebakken Croft Cottage, part of historic Hovelsrud Farm on the island of Helgøya in Lake Mjøsa. The timber house dates to 1864 and has been carefully restored so visitors can experience a piece of Norway’s rural past while still enjoying modern comforts.

• Where It Is
  Helgøya sits in the middle of Lake Mjøsa, about 90 minutes north of Oslo. The island is connected to the mainland by bridge and is known for its farms, quiet country roads, and wide views across the water.

• What to Do
  Walk the forest paths behind the cottage. Visit the historic gardens at Hovelsrud Farm. In the summer, swim or sit along the shoreline of Lake Mjøsa. Or simply stay put which is what I’ve done both times I have stayed here: read by the window or in the garden, enjoy a fire on a stormy night, and let the hours pass slowly.

Where to Eat or Buy Provisions

Hovelsrud Farm Shop
Just a short walk from the cottage, the historic Hovelsrud farm has a small seasonal farm shop where you can find local products and simple provisions. The farm itself is worth wandering through—restored gardens, open views across Lake Mjøsa, and a sense of the agricultural landscape that has shaped this island for generations.

Helgøya Klatrepark Café & Local Farm Stalls
Around the island you’ll find small farm cafés and roadside stands selling seasonal produce, baked goods, and local honey. Helgøya is known for its agricultural heritage, and part of the pleasure of staying here is sourcing food directly from the farms that surround you.

Brumunddal (Mainland Market Town)
A short drive across the bridge brings you to Brumunddal, where you’ll find supermarkets, bakeries, and restaurants if you want to stock the cottage kitchen for a few days. It’s the easiest place to pick up basics before retreating back to the island.

Simple Cottage Meals
Part of the experience here is cooking slowly at the cottage itself—bread, cheese, berries, and a pot of coffee by the window while the lake shifts with the weather outside.

Good to Know
The cottage sleeps up to six guests and retains the simple character of a traditional Norwegian farmhouse. It feels most at home with travelers who appreciate cozy places, old timber cottages.

There are places that ask very little of you. This is one of them. A kettle warming on the stove. Wind moving through birch trees. The slow drift of clouds across Lake Mjøsa. Days here unfold without agenda—reading, walking forest paths, watching the light change across the water. It reminds you that life once moved at the pace of weather and work, not notifications. And for a few days, if you let it, your own rhythm begins to follow that older cadence too.

About the Author

Welcome - I’m Kyle, the soul behind Sudden Journeys. I’m a writer, photographer, and founder of Sudden Journeys. I’ve spent the last few decades exploring: guiding travelers, leading tours, living abroad, and paying close attention to what landscapes, rooms, and encounters awaken in us. I write about place and belonging, hospitality and gathering, the practice of attention through journaling, and the home life between departures. Originally from a small town south of Nashville; I divide my time between the English countryside, London, and wherever the road takes me next.

Stay a While

If this piece resonated, you’ll find more long-form essays, reflections on journaling and home life, notes on gathering and hospitality, and lived travel writing here on Substack. Paid subscribers receive deeper essays, photography notes, and more intimate reflections.

Let’s Connect
Ask me a question, submit feedback or suggest a topic here.

💬 Come say hi on Instagram or LinkedIn
🎙️ On the Echoes of Elsewhere podcast, exploring place, migration, and belonging
📞 Have questions about travel? Book a travel planning consultation or email me at kyle@mysuddenjourneys.com

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Berber Lodge is one of those places.

I keep thinking about how I was welcomed.

No clipboard. No immediate passport request. No transactional energy. Just “Your room is ready. Lunch is being served outside. Go enjoy.”

I actually went back the later in the evening thinking I needed to sort the admin. They smiled. Told me not to worry about it. That told me everything.

There was a deep sense of trust. A kind of mutual respect that’s hard to manufacture. Traveling alone in a remote part of Morocco, I felt it immediately. I wasn’t being processed. I was being received.

In the evenings, someone lit the fire in my room while I was at dinner. Records played in the bar. Candles flickered. There’s only one menu, which I loved. No overthinking. No scrolling. No QR codes. No TVs in the rooms. No digital noise humming in the background. And strangely, nothing felt missing.

It very felt intentional.

I lounged barefoot on low sofas in the common spaces, play cards with other guests who invited me to join, maybe check email briefly because that’s where the WiFi lives (not in the rooms). Then back to real conversation. Real stillness.

Romain, the lovely owner, moves through the lodge like you’re in his home. You end up talking about Morocco, about the village, about design, about life. It doesn’t feel curated. It all feels deeply personal. Like you’ve stepped into something he genuinely loves. And you can tell he does!

And that’s the thing.

The whole place feels like a love story between one man and Oumnass. The sheep nearby. The school children along the road. The call to prayer. Atlas Mountains in the distance. The earth-brick lodges scattered in the garden. Nothing showy. Just textured. Rooted. Calm.

I stay in a lot of hotels. Many are beautiful. Many are efficient. Very few make you feel cared for in a way that slows your pulse.

This one did.

It reminded me that hospitality is not at all about excess. It’s about paying attention. The quiet under the radar kind. The kind that says take your time.

And honestly, in the world we’re living in, that feels almost radical.

Built as a homage to rural Morocco, it feels nothing like a hotel and feels more like an Amazigh village settled into an ancient olive groves on the edge of the Atlas Mountains. Mud-brick lodges stand independently, scattered like pink earthen cubes in silvery light. It is luxurious, yes but in that unpretentious, deeply human way that never announces itself. The kind of place that seduces you in the most subtle of ways. The kind of place you long to return to.

Just forty minutes south of Marrakech, on the edge of Oumnass village, as you arrive you wonder where in the world your driver is taking you. It feels more like an off-road experience you didn’t ask for. Bu then, you turn through the gates and there is that moment.. the olive trees set against the Atlas rising in the distance.. and something in you exhales.

Note: Transfers are easily arranged, but once you arrive, you won’t feel much need to leave.

Style and Character

There is a certain magic here, and it feels earned. Owner Romain Michel-Ménière, a lovely, talkative man, has loved Morocco for years, and that devotion is evident in every corner. Friends Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty of Studio KO shaped the design: a main house with salon and library, a dining room beneath an antique painted ceiling, a bar terrace facing the Atlas, and a small hammam tucked discreetly away.

The gardens, designed by Arnaud Casaus, weave between the cottages… lush, blousy, alive. Inside, latilla reed ceilings rest on palm trunks, walls finished in peach-toned tadelakt, wool rugs grounding each room. The two-hectare olive grove is a blissful retreat. It is calm that allows you to hear yourself think.

Service and Rhythm

This is not a place of bellhops and formalities. The team comes from the neighboring village and carries the gentle, intuitive hospitality Berber communities are known for. Things move at the right pace.. not rushed, not performative. Kind, thoughtful and attentive but never too much.

Many guests (often creatives or those weary from digital intensity) come here to unplug. Days pass beside the long 25-meter pool, on salon sofas with a book, or in the hammam with a traditional scrub.

And if you wish to explore, there is the Agafay Desert by e-bike, the donkey sanctuary, hikes that stretch toward the Atlas, horse rides at dawn around Lalla Takerkoust, or visits to weavers in Tamsloht where hand-woven linens and towels await.

Rooms

There are just eleven cottages, each with tiny keyhole windows and private terraces opening toward the gardens. The interiors are restrained, almost monastic. Beni Ouirain rugs underfoot, painted Berber wedding chests, vintage black-and-white photographs, wool bedspreads that feel both substantial and soft.

The mud-brick walls hold the temperature beautifully, so though there is air-conditioning, it’s the slow turning ceiling fan that feels right… stirring gauzy linen curtains so that you sometimes wake unsure whether you’re in Morocco or inside a Merchant Ivory film. In cooler months, fireplaces are lit each evening. It’s the small ritual that makes dusk feel sacred. I can’t tell you the delight of returning from dinner to find your room glowing with a fire that’s been lit in your absence.

Classic rooms are generous for couples. Superiors, especially those overlooking the pool, offer a bit more breathing room. Deluxe rooms accommodate additional beds, while the family cottage gives you two bedrooms and a sitting room which is ideal for those traveling together but still craving privacy. If romance is your aim, Superior III, upstairs with its shaded terrace and sweeping Atlas views, feels quietly cinematic.

Bathrooms are spacious, most with deep tubs and overhead showers, organic toiletries, and hand-loomed towels from nearby village of Tamsloht, it is the kind of details that root you in place.

Food and Drink

Food here feels alive. Romain, the owner, is devoted to the potager: think abundant salads, micro herbs, vegetables vibrant with sun. Lunch might be delicate salads, soups, hummus and aubergine croquettes. Dinner could be herb-dusted beldi chicken or lamb tagine with quinces and peaches gathered from the orchard. You are never told what the menu is and they only serve what they’ve made for the day. I love that each meal is a surprise and that I don’t have to think about what to order. Truly it is an affair to remember.

Breakfast is a ceremony. Served on the lawn or beneath a cascade of pink trumpet vine in the summer months, it unfolds slowly: Moroccan pancakes (some of the finest I’ve tasted), honey from local hives, seasonal compotes, village yogurt, fresh bread, eggs any way you like them, and endless strong black coffee and of course all the mint tea you desire.

Come evening, the bar is understated but thoughtful; classic cocktails and carefully chosen Moroccan wines along with vinyls spinning and candles glowing. I love to curl up with a book by the fire and a lovely drink before retreating to dinner.

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Practical Notes

Double rooms begin around €250 in low season and €280 in high, breakfast included.

While the property is spacious and low-profile, it is not suited for wheelchair users.

Families are welcome — particularly those with very young children or older teens who appreciate the quiet rhythm of the place.

Berber Lodge is not about spectacle.

It is about earth and light and fire at dusk. It is about olive trees and strong mint tea.
It is about remembering how little you actually need to feel restored.

And in a world that is constantly asking for more, that feels like its own quiet kind of luxury.

Berber Lodge, Douar Oumnes, Tamesloth, Marrakech. 00 212 6 62 04 90 43

About the Author

Welcome - I’m Kyle, the soul behind Sudden Journeys. I’m a writer, photographer, and founder of Sudden Journeys. I’ve spent the last few decades exploring: guiding travelers, leading tours, living abroad, and paying close attention to what landscapes, rooms, and encounters awaken in us. I write about place and belonging, hospitality and gathering, the practice of attention through journaling, and the home life between departures. Originally from a small town south of Nashville; I divide my time between the English countryside, London, and wherever the road takes me next.

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🎙️ On the Echoes of Elsewhere podcast, exploring place, migration, and belonging
📞 Have questions about travel? Book a travel planning consultation or email me at kyle@mysuddenjourneys.com

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Hidden in plain sight, Hazlitt's pairs old-world style with modern comforts. Spread across four Georgian townhouses, this boutique hotel is named after the 18th-century essayist, William Hazlitt, who lived here. He counted many other famous literary figures amongst his friends, including Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver’s Travels.

Over the years Hazlitt’s has played host to many prominent literary figures, including Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, JK Rowling and Bill Bryson. Many of these authors leave their mark in the bookcase, giving signed copies of their works to Hazlitt’s collection.

Life inside Hazlitt’s hallowed walls remains resolutely 18th century in style. The 30 bedrooms ooze character: narrow corridors, antique four-poster beds, dark wooded antique furnishings and brass-fitted clawfoot tubs. Booklovers will appreciate the opulent library.

LOCATION

Hazlitt’s is located in central Soho, with all of the area’s legendary pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants and theatres on its doorstep. Soho is bordered by Chinatown (to the south) and Oxford Street and Fitzrovia (to the north) – while Covent Garden is a 10-minute walk away.

ROOMS

Named after Hazlitt’s friends who frequented his Georgian boarding house, rooms are furnished with period trims – think oak four-poster beds, original fireplaces, heavy velvet curtains, ornate mirrors and antique desks – while the wonky walls and sloping floors have been retained. Bathrooms feature roll-top tubs and toilets concealed behind Jacobite loveseats, and are kitted out with generously-sized REN toiletries. A low-key, low-tech atmosphere prevails, but there are a few modern touches including minibars, hidden televisions, and double-glazed windows which ensure a good night’s sleep – despite the lively Soho locale.

BREAKFAST

Hazlitt’s doesn’t have a restaurant, however continental breakfasts (such as Brick Lane beigels, berries and granola, pastries and bacon sandwiches) are served in-room on china plates. Breakfast in bed is always a bonus. There’s also a room service menu of light meals (chicken pie, filled baguettes, pasta, etc) and an extensive wine list at all other times. For a nightcap, head to the honesty bar in the lounge or step outside the front door: Soho is abuzz with options.

The hotel is a one-off and the welcome is intimate and cosy. The staff are friendly, attentive and very passionate about the concept. I absolutely loved my stay.

PRICE

It was a lot less expensive in Hazlitt’s day. Double rooms from $325. Breakfast $15 per person, per night. Free Wi-Fi.

ROOMS

The 175 rooms are divided into two categories: ‘Cosy’, and the ‘Roomy’. Both are compact, but make clever use of space – with neat fold-down desks, large drawers under the king-sized bed to stash luggage and shoes, and a hanging rail in place of a wardrobe – and of the plum location, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views across the river to Manhattan, or over Brooklyn. Bathrooms are minimal and stylish, with white subway tiles, brass fittings and toiletries. The Hoxton brand has a strict ‘no rip-offs’ policy, and to that end, rooms feature kettles, tea and coffee and a small fridge to stock yourself, while a light breakfast of juice, banana and a ‘breakfast pot’ is delivered in a paper bag in the morning. There’s no overpriced minibar but snacks and drinks are available to buy 24/7 at reception, and at the coffee bar in the lobby.

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Athens’ thriving creative scene takes centre stage at Mona, a 20-room boutique hotel where edgy local style is the star. A former bank turned hotel, House of Shila, it is easily one of the city’s coolest stays.

LOCATION

Around 30 minutes’ drive from the airport and 20 minutes’ walk from the Acropolis, Mona’s discreet sense of style begins from the moment you enter the front door. That is, if you can find it. Tucked away on a side street in Psyrri, one of Athens’ most vibrant neighborhoods, with no obvious signage, the unassuming black door is a gateway into the exclusivity to come.

ROOMS

Everything in Mona’s rooms is either made by hand, recycled from the building’s original materials or crafted by their design studio. From the smallest rooms to the sleeps-four penthouse with a terrace, that means original terrazzo floors, custom-knit rugs, industrial metal finishes and ethereal cotton curtains. The colour scheme errs towards sultry fashionista: burnt orange and ochre velvet chaises, tables and plinths in blacks and whites, and low beds and lighting to set the mood.

Minibars are stocked with suitably artisanal creations and the fresh beans to make your morning coffee are a nice touch. The white Corian tubs, organic shower amenities, and flower-shaped brass taps in the sink and shower at a beautiful layer of textures.

SPACE

An honesty-bar-turned-nighttime-hub with Acropolis views is one of Mona’s highlights; ditto the basement speakeasy, which hosts a full social calendar of events from pop-up art exhibitions to chef-residency supper clubs, live music sessions and soirées. The breakfast room also features a coffee bar and sofa area.

FOOD

Breakfast is served in the main dining area, with an open kitchen in the corner where you can see your spoils being prepared. Every spread features a Levantine mezze (labneh, tapenade, tahini dip), and a choice of eggs (I recommend the wild oregano scrambled) plus a sweeter option, such as Greek yogurt with berries or French toast. Offerings are limited but beautifully presented, with each dish as artful as its surroundings. You can also request this to be served to your room or the rooftop.

Mona doesn’t provide lunch or dinner (unless you’re attending their one-off events), but the hotel does have a unique spin on room service. From the in-room iPads, you can choose from their favorite dishes at nearby restaurants in the city, which they will plate and bring to your door.

PRICE

Double rooms from €195 ($225), year-round. Breakfast included. Free Wi-Fi.

Hands down this is my favorite hotel stay of 2025. The style, the staff, the location, the amenities, the incredibly comfortable bed, the gorgeous tub and lighting.. all of it.

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The New York outpost of the rapidly expanding Hoxton brand finds itself in the ever-trendy north side of Williamsburg, amid a landscape of converted warehouses and factories in post-industrial Brooklyn, set in a former water-tower factory with a broad statement staircase sashaying down the middle. Walking through the front doors leads you straight into the restaurant and bar, where guests and locals tap away on laptops or meet for drinks.

To me, this a comforting connection to my life in the UK as The Hoxton, Williamsburg feels very London. Not only has the label transported very smoothly across the Atlantic, it’s also full of Brits, as well as many creative locals. Stay here to feel like you’re among the a creative tribe, with reasonable prices and phenomenal views.

LOCATION

Few neighborhoods have seen such rapid gentrification over the last decade as the creative stronghold of Williamsburg, with formerly industrial warehouse spaces now occupied by fashionable coffee shops, cocktail bars, nightclubs and high-end clothing stores. With myriad excellent restaurants including Reynard, Fette Sau and St Anselm all within a 15-minute stroll, there’s no real reason to even cross the river to Manhattan. If you must, though, the L train subway is a five-minute walk, and the East River Ferry dock eight minutes away. About 35 - 45 minutes to JFK.

ROOMS

The 175 rooms are divided into two categories: ‘Cosy’, and the ‘Roomy’. Both are compact, but make clever use of space – with neat fold-down desks, large drawers under the king-sized bed to stash luggage and shoes, and a hanging rail in place of a wardrobe – and of the plum location, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views across the river to Manhattan, or over Brooklyn. Bathrooms are minimal and stylish, with white subway tiles, brass fittings and toiletries. The Hoxton brand has a strict ‘no rip-offs’ policy, and to that end, rooms feature kettles, tea and coffee and a small fridge to stock yourself, while a light breakfast of juice, banana and a ‘breakfast pot’ is delivered in a paper bag in the morning. There’s no overpriced minibar but snacks and drinks are available to buy 24/7 at reception, and at the coffee bar in the lobby.

FOOD

There is the brand-new restaurant K’Far, where renowned Philadelphia chef Michael Solomonov serves all-day Israeli inspired menus alongside a full bar and a bakery/cafe with takeaway goods. And then, there’s the recently opened rooftop bar Laser Wolf, where guests can enjoy elevated Israeli cuisine cooked over live coals, innovative cocktails, and stunning skyline views.

PRICE

Double rooms from $225 in low season; and from $349 in high. Free Wi-Fi. Six pairs of rooms can be connected, and cots are available on request.

https://thehoxton.com/williamsburg/

Welcome to IZZA: seven ancient homes, one house of friends. Hidden within the Medina of Marrakech, IZZA is a place where kindred creative spirits mix, cultures connect and new friendships are forged. With its tranquil courtyards and tadelakt interiors, twinkling rooftop and traditional hammam, this Moroccan hideaway is nothing short of enchanting.

LOCATION

Only 20 minutes from the airport, the Riad is set in a quiet residential neighborhood in the north of the medina. This is a great place to experience local life at the Rue el-Gza food market, the huge vintage market of Bab el Khemis and the zaouia (shrine) of Sidi Bel Abbes. As a solo female travelers, I appreciate the private car service which is offered 24/7 to get around.

ROOMS

IZZA has its own design surprises. Fourteen rooms encircle three tranquil courtyards. Every room is idiosyncratically fitted out with hand-selected pieces of vintage furniture, the constant being the decades of the 1940s through 1960s. Books and impressive art work are everywhere. Bathrooms are similarly luxurious with glossy tadelakt (Moroccan plaster) and zellij-tiled walls that refract the light and underfloor heating to ward off winter chills. The guest rooms take their names from icons of Morocco’s counter-culture past.

My room, nicknamed “The Photographer's Studio” was named for Sir Cecil Beaton who was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for cinema and theatre.

The riad has an impressive array of facilities, including a heated pool, a Tsmart gym and a bijou hammam, but best of all are the fabulous experiences that event ambassador Aicha Benazzouz dreams up. These include photography workshops with Moroccan artists, gallery tours in Gueliz, vintage motorbike excursions to art deco mansions or pottery lessons at out-of-town retreats. You name it and she can probably arrange it. This makes IZZA a great springboard for exploring the intimate side of Marrakech – something many visitors miss out on.

BREAKFAST

IZZA’s rooftop terrace is a lovely flower-framed stage for the bar and restaurant with tables beneath pergolas draped in vines. The pastry chef is a genius and the freshly made croissant, bread, msemem flatbread and beghrir pancakes are the best in the medina. There are also hot dishes including eggs with saffron and bowls of loubia (beans) with sun-dried tomatoes or merguez.

PRICE

Double rooms from $210 in low season; and from $275 in high. Airport transfers and breakfast included. In addition, guests booked into regular rooms receive a complimentary evening cocktail, while those in suites also enjoy a 45-minute massage.

What makes this stay unforgettable beyond the stunning property is the service. The staff - everyone from the front desk to the spa manager, to the privater driver and bartenders are exceptionally kind, willing and helpful.

This was hands down my favorite stay of 2024. Already I am dreaming of returning. If only to spend another week in this enchanting oasis.