Romantic getaway in Hex Cottage, Suffolk, UK.

Step back in time for a weekend in an electricity-free dreamy thatched former forester’s cottage.

This year for Dan’s birthday, I wanted to surprise him with something different. No material gifts but rather a weekend experiencing the unusual. I came across Hex Cottage at Wilderness in Suffolk, UK via someone I follow on Instagram. Straightaway, I thought this electricity-free, candlelit cottage in the middle of nowhere would be a fabulous idea. I kept quiet for 6 months (you do have to book well in advance!) and on Friday last week we drove to Sibton Park.

Hex Cottage is away from it all. Off the grid, fully sustainable. No electricity, no artificial lighting at all - just set your clock by the sun and immerse in nature. An amazing escape and a fantastic way to recharge your batteries at this picture-perfect little cottage which is a faithful recreation of a 19th century shepherd’s house set on the beautiful Wilderness estate in Suffolk.

We arrived at night so we could not appreciate the beauty of the cottage and surroundings until the morning. Nice surprise to get up to I guess! Inside it was very cosy with all the candles and fireplace already lit for us before our arrival.

The cottage is located in the woods overlooking its own meadow. It has a good size for 2 with a lounge, a kitchen with table and chairs, a double size bedroom and a large bathroom. See a floorplan here.

The atmosphere of the place at night is very romantic!

The interior of the cottage was very atmospheric and authentic, genuinely transporting you back centuries as you read by candlelight in front of the open wood fire. Although we feel the inside could be made just slightly more homely - eg the decoration of the walls and the sofas, chairs. Others might disagree however! Overall this is a great concept and (in the main) executed brilliantly by the estate. Fully sustainable as hot water and heating all provided by the Esse (cast iron cookers and stoves running on wood).

I had pre-book a food hamper and brought some of our leftover wedding wines so we could dine at the cottage on our first night and just relax. The meal is delivered to your property with finishing instructions. We had the chilly beef, seasonal greens, gratin potatoes and chocolate tart.

Sadly there were some technical issues with the Esse during our stay meaning that it did not operate effectively as an oven (it worked well for heating and hot water but not for cooking). It meant that the food took much longer to re-heat. After a few hours of waiting, we managed to get our food ready to enjoy. The food was absolutely delicious and it comes in very generous quantity. We actually didn’t finish it all!

The next morning we informed the management of the issue as we could not get boiling water for coffee (if you know Dan, coffee is very important haha!). They were extremely quick to reply and came around to see the issue. They also brought boiling water so we could have a coffee. The disappointing thing was that I had also booked a breakfast hamper for the next morning with local produces (eggs, mushrooms, sausages, bacon, bread…) but sadly none of this was possible to cook until the Esse would become functional. The management were wonderful at proactively offering an alternative for breakfast. We ended up at Darsham Nurseries for a nice breakfast offered by Wilderness. Thank you.

We then set for a bike ride on the beautiful estate. Pashley bikes are complementary and available at your cottage. Dan later on got a tennis coaching session with Heads up Tennis but you can book the court to play with someone else too. There is plenty activities you can do at Wilderness: clay-pigeon shooting, archery, yoga, tennis, paddleboarding, fishing… and obviously long walks.

Working in London and living a busy life we truly enjoyed being in the countryside. We had an amazing refreshing weekend at Wilderness - an absolute pleasure to be surrounded by nature and enjoy the vast grounds full of pheasants, cows, rabbits and sheeps. We even got to see lambs just born.

We loved the no artificial lighting concept, but the combination of candles, open fire and the Esse does mean that the interior of the cottage can get quite smokey pretty much all the time. We were ok with this but I don’t think everyone would be and is important for you to know. Have a think about what you wear and take inside with you (it’ll take a little while to get the smell out of clothes/jackets/scarves etc). For this reason we would also not recommend booking more than 2 nights here as we think that could be an issue.

No doubt this place is perfect to unwind and take the time to live. It’s very very pretty! You will probably take tons of pictures like we did!

We had a beautiful stay at Hex and recommend it to anyone willing to experience something different.

Update : Following our issues with the Esse during our recent stay. The management invited us for a weekend to experience Hex again at no cost. We are really amazed by the customer service at Wilderness. We obviously think it’s the right thing to do but not every company does the right thing! Thank you Wilderness. We will be back and not just once…