Avington Park, Weddings

Wow!! I was lucky enough to host a wellness retreat at the wonderful Avington Estate. We went swimming in the lakes and did yoga outside which was just Amazing. Stillwater’s house…. Was breathtaking! The house was gorgeous the design and the attention to detail through out the property was incredible. The outside heated pool was lovely and the view down the lake while swimming was insane. The team at Avington thank you for an amazing weekend.

We stayed in a shepherd’s hut - Nell’s hut, but sadly when we arrived, the outside space isn’t what the Instagram and website make out it to be. — The chairs were facing large overgrown bushes with weeds. The hot tub didn’t look clean as when we lifted the lid it was dusty and there was a layer of something floating on top (and cold water… I only noticed ‘let us know if you’d like it heated before you arrive’ afterwards on the emails) and you’re very limited with fire logs and kindling. Inside the hut is very nice. It matches the website and Instagram. But obviously staying there in august you expect to chill outside a lot but it was that unkept and dark and overgrown, it wasn’t ‘zen’. Also, the only view you get is of plants and a tiny swamp. You don’t get any lake views. It’s very very closed in with trees and bushes, but not in a boutique-way. More in a local park way. We were meant to stay two nights but we stayed one instead. Also, the activities… the sauna is nice! But the wild swimming is unmanned and there’s no one around… it’s seems a bit negligent as no one would hear or see you if you got into any trouble. There’s no safety precautions in place. Everything just looks a little bit worn and could do with a bit of a spruce. I think if this place was taken up a few notches it could make a killing. During our stay (weekend in august) you’d expect it to be bustling but we saw less than 5 people in total. Shame! I was thinking it would be buzzing with people.

Stillwater House itself is absolutely stunning and the villa is beautiful. The setting couldn't be more picturesque. It could genuinely be an amazing luxury villa, but unfortunately, there were quite a few things that let it down. The swimming pool was one of the things we were really looking forward to when we got there but it had algae in it!! It was green and murky and it clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly. The “lake” was more like a big pond. The amount of algae in there was crazy I’ve genuinely never seen anything like it. I love paddle boarding but it was near on impossible in there because the oars just got covered in it. The bedrooms were also incredibly hot and uncomfortable, even though it was cool outside. Surely a luxury place like this should have air con? The pool table was missing the black ball and the only cue was completely broken. Around the fire pit outside, there were only seven bean bags, even though the villa sleeps 14 people. It felt as if no one had checked properly before we arrived. The worst part of our stay though was an incident with a staff member. We'd hired a baby piglets from a petting farm for a team bonding day, not knowing pets weren’t allowed. The animals were only going to be outside the property, not inside. Yet a staff member stormed into the villa very rudely, without knocking, and aggressively told us off about pets not being permitted. It was intrusive, disrespectful, and honestly ruined our team bonding experience. She could easily have handled the situation politely and explained it calmly. This was even more frustrating given that we've seen horses on the grounds, so the rules weren't clear. Stillwater House has the potential to be amazing, but right now it doesn't justify the premium price tag. Better management, clearer communication, and proper maintenance could make a huge difference. Until then, it's hard to recommend.