Bedroom 1, Imogen cabin

The life of a magazine founder is a difficult one; especially when you have the opportunity to review the absolute green luxury that is Brompton Lakes.

Tipped off about this new holiday park by one of our lovely readers, Karen Marriott, we immediately spoke to Brompton Lakes who were delighted to let us to review their new wooden, eco lodges.

Set in Richmond, North Yorkshire, the Lakes had only been complete for a couple of weeks when we arrived. I had had a very fixed idea of a ‘wooden cabin’ which were dispelled as soon as I checked out their website.

Each of the 20 lodges at Brompton Lakes are uniquely decorated and I would challenge anyone not to find one that they absolutely love. The booking process was seamless, the staff were lovely and very thorough, with all site information written in a clear and friendly way.

We arrived without any hitches and stepping into our lodge took our breath away. We are talking 5 star luxury.

The lodge was immaculately clean. All the details were attended to - high quality linen, towels and all manner of gadgets on offer. The food basket welcomed us and happily, I noted that tea, sugar and coffee was of the organic and fairtrade variety, complemented with local and British made goodies. Nice touch.

Exploring our new residence the three double sized rooms had large beds in them that actually zip together.  Extremely comfortable, they can be set up for three couples or six individuals.

Our mission for the weekend was simple; to relax. The night sky was so clear Mr Daisy saw three shooting stars and the milky way in all it’s glory. Whilst he was star gazing, I was glued to my very comfy couch in front of the wood burning stove. We love our log burner at home, but it’s definitely the poor cousin in comparison. For two days we basked in what must have been 35 degree heat. Glorious!

After a trip into the lovely market town of Richmond, we decided that we just didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere else. And Brompton Lakes is well set up for this. Each lodge overlooks the lake which promotes a really calming effect.

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Green credentials

The cabins have been designed to be as eco friendly as possible from the outset and it shows. Here is a brief summary but you can read in more detail here

• Materials; the timber-framed log cabin style eco-lodges are constructed from European soft wood sourced from sustainable plantations.
• Insulation; the lodges have double-insulated walls and sedum green roofs which not only helps them blend into their natural Yorkshire countryside environment but also acts as a second insulate to retain heat in the winter and keep the lodge pleasantly cool in the warmer months. Large glass windows and sliding doors offer stunning views while increasing passive solar gain.
• Own Brompton Spring; all the cabins’ water is genuinely pure, clean and 100% natural.
• Geothermal Heating; the cabins have the very latest geo-thermal heating systems extracting solar energy from the site’s natural resource – the lakes.

So, was there anything we questioned or would change?

Well very little. There were adequate recycling facilities but we were surprised that there wasn’t a compost bin alongside. We asked Katey McKendoo, on site warden about this. She said, ‘Compost is an issue for us because of the close proximity of the local wildlife and the water. We have been speaking to a local gardeners club with regard to how we tackle this. This site is so new we have literally hit the ground running, but we will get there!’

An endless supply of wood is provided for the amazing fire but just where does it come from? There was a pretty robust answer to this too: ‘We are currently using wood from trees that had to be felled or trimmed back to make way for the construction of the lodges. When it is exhausted we propose to use firewood from a sustainable source which is supplied from a local estate, about one mile away.’

What can I say. Five star luxury, eco self catering. The thought process behind Brompton Lakes from start to finish really has taken incredible consideration of the local environment from building and designing to maintenance over the coming years. We simply loved it, and have already booked to go back. If that’s not the very best recommendation I don’t know what is.