Staying in The Butterchurn: first impressions of our romantic studio retreat

The Butterchurn is an intimate studio retreat for two at The Firs, built for couples who want nothing more complicated than each other, a hot tub and a quiet corner of Suffolk. It's small in the best way — everything you need within arm's reach, and nothing you don't.

Here's what staying here feels like.

The Butterchurn is the lodge people choose when they want to properly switch off. There are apple trees on one side and a sundowner deck on the other, and a remarkable amount of the stay tends to happen in those two spots — coffee under the apple boughs in the morning, a glass of wine on the deck as the light goes gold in the evening.

Inside, it's a single, beautifully kept space arranged around a kingsize bed, with a wood-burning stove for the cold-weather romance and the kind of considered, cosy comfort that makes a studio feel generous rather than compact. You're not managing a house here; you're just being somewhere lovely.

The headline, of course, is the private wood-fired hot tub — yours alone, with apple trees and open sky for company. There's something about a wood-fired tub that a plug-in spa can't match: the wait while it heats, the woodsmoke, the slow sink into the water as the stars come out. It's the centre of gravity of a Butterchurn stay.

This is a couples' lodge through and through — for a mini-moon, an anniversary, or simply a weekend where the plan is to have no plan. If you're after space for a family or a group, our larger lodges will suit you better; but if it's just the two of you, the Butterchurn was made for exactly this.

The Butterchurn at a glance:

• Sleeps 2 · romantic studio retreat

• Kingsize bed

• Private wood-fired hot tub

• Wood-burning stove

• Sundowner deck and apple trees

• Ideal for couples, mini-moons and anniversaries

Check availability for The Butterchurn.