12 Luxury Cottages in Cotswolds UK

In the heart of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, between Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold and Burford, Bruern are not just the only luxury cottages in the Cotswolds to welcome guests just as a hotel does – for two nights (sometimes even one) or for eight weeks, both during the week and at the weekend, but are in fact one of the few luxury holiday rentals in the UK to do this.

Because Bruern is luxury self-catering, you are not expected to entirely provide for yourself on your first night, so when you arrive, there are essentials like milk, butter, eggs and sausages waiting for you, along with a few little luxuries like champagne, homemade cakes and local artisan cheese.

Twice National Winners of VisitBritain’s England for Excellence Award for Luxury Self-Catering, and current holders of EnjoyEngland’s Gold Award for quality, these holiday cottages set a new benchmark for self-catering when Judy Astor first started converting the properties in 1992, at that time comprising eight of the properties holding VisitBritain’s top grade awards for luxury self-catering, out of just 132 in the whole of the UK.

Bruern Cottages offer the comfort and attention to detail of a good hotel, combined with the privacy, independence and space of home, amidst the civilised ease and style of English Country House living. However, there are four things that really set Bruern apart from other luxury holiday rentals.

Firstly, it is a paradise for children, with three playgrounds, a play cabin, a wendy house, toy cars and bicycles for every child and in every size – and above all other children. For teens (and maybe older-than-teens), there’s a games room with pool, table tennis and table football.

Secondly, there is the décor, which eschews the monotonous orthodoxies of minimalism, being unashamedly English Country House style – the atmosphere is elegant yet comfortable, and all the properties have log fires, and canopied or four poster beds.

When you step outside into the gardens, you find a blend of formal and informal elements, featuring topiary, cutting gardens with box hedges, gazebos, little orchards, statuary, a wisteria tunnel, and a vast hundred yard herbaceous border. There is barely a square foot of the entire estate that has not been planned out with a passion for landscape and an eye for detail.

In 1999 Bruern’s gardens were first awarded a marking of 100 out of 100 by VisitBritain, and although they clearly didn’t think we had much room for improvement, we begged to differ – a couple of gazebos and two gardens have been added since, and the gardens in general have matured considerably.

Finally, there is the indoor swimming pool, gym and spa, which looks out on to a separate Italianate garden and terrace, with a classical portico to sit beneath in the shade. Cited by Tatler in 2009 as one of the “101 best spas in the world”, here you can book reflexology, massages and facials.

All in all, Bruern is a place that is simply unique – over eighty percent of our business comes from returning guests, and of new guests the majority come from personal word-of-mouth recommendations. Our average review score over the last three years on TripAdvisor is more than 4.9 out of 5 – if you read the reviews, you’ll see why we are simply the best luxury cottages in the Cotswolds.