Glamping it up hipster style

Hotel group Hoxton has erected luxury yurts at an 18th-century Oxfordshire hall that might just convert the most sceptical of campers, writes Sherelle Jacobs

As I, like many Britons, brave an obstacle course of Covid tests, quarantine threats and pesky QR codes in the run-up to my fix of European summer sun, one question tuts at the back of my mind. Am I a fool for not settling on a staycation this once? Particularly given the warm admiration I feel for those entrepreneurial holidaymakers setting up tents on Britain’s open moorland, heathered hillsides – and even beaches to nab the best sunbathing spot.

Not that I will be joining them. My Mediterranean holiday is booked and I haven’t been camping since my bronze Duke of Edinburgh award, a miserable puddle of a memory that still makes me shudder. Like Scarlett O’Hara vowed never to go hungry again, my 15-year-old snowflake self made a personal promise to never again be so damp.

But that’s where the glamping weekend trend preys ingeniously on the spoiled and troubled psyche of the millennial jet-setter. One of Britain’s most hipster hotel groups, Hoxton, has taken over Eynsham Hall to launch a luxury glamping experience aimed at 30-somethings this summer (they may run more dates, so watch this space).

Yurt-style tents have been erected across the gardens of the 18th-century hunting-pile-turned-hotel in Oxfordshire, which is currently closed as it prepares for a relaunch in 2022 (those seeking peace and quiet need not fret as, currently, no refurbishment works are under way). But for the billowing white ceilings of canvas fabric and the odd flying ant scaling the walls (staff can spray down tents on request), they are pretty much like walking into any Hoxton hotel room – from the king-size bed decorated with teal velvet pillows to the copper-brushed light fixtures and easy chairs. Hoxton signature mugs and a kettle sit atop the minibar, which, presumably thanks to a tentsized loophole in the new hotel room regulations, was loaded with a complimentary bottle of Douro Valley wine and the usual array of alcoholic miniatures. Each tent even has its own private rain shower and loo in a building next to the main house.

After a panicked moment searching for a socket to charge my two phones (what is the point of glamping if not to