Best cottages to rent in the Cotswolds for a charming holiday 2025

If your idea of heaven is checking into a cottage in the Cotswolds, but sacrificing the little touches that come with a hotel stay niggle in your mind, then Daylesford’s offering will feel unquestionably perfect. It’s part of the Daylesford farm in Chipping Norton, which has its own cluster of properties on site and the ‘village’ of yellowstone houses just five minutes’ walk down the road. Houses range in size, and all champion the quintessential English charm that this affluent part of the country is loved for. We checked into a postcard-perfect two-bed called ‘Willow’ with its own back garden, and setting foot in our momentary home threatened to have me planning a full-time move to the country. Interiors here are rustic yet considered in the best possible way – think agers, exposed brick walls, wooden furniture and curtains cut from heavy, premium fabrics that drape to the floor and set the tone for a cosy evening by the fire. Guests that call ahead can put in special requests such as a fridge full of the farm’s organic produce, a loaf of fresh sourdough or (and?) a bottle home-grown wine, but expect homely touches, too, like soft white branded robes in the wardrobes, glass bottled water by the bed and sumptuous products in signature rich green bottles in the bathrooms.

This is a home rental at its most elevated, and one that feels exceptionally hard to prise away from once you check out. That is, of course, unless you’re heading to the farm’s spa for a signature treatment before recovering in the crystal steam room (which is exactly as it sounds), or joining yoga and a sound healing session in the airy on-site studio. Before you leave, be sure to grab a coffee from the trailer outside, and a bag of freshly baked goods – the marmalade and poppyseed cake is to die for. Sarah Leigh Bannerman

Sleeps: Willow Cottage sleeps four, but others are varying sizes
Price: From around £500 per night