Self-catering · Lechlade-on-Thames
The Lakes by YOO
An 850-acre lakeside estate at Coln Park, west of Lechlade, with rooms, apartments, cabins and houses sleeping up to 14, a spa with a 17-metre pool, and a lakeside bar and kitchen.
Family-friendly · Hot tubs
A designed resort of private lake houses rather than a Cotswold village stay, best for families and groups who want the spa, the water and things to do without getting in the car. Lechlade's pubs and the Thames are a short drive away.
- Good: Stays from a room for two to a house for 14, many with hot tubs or pools
- Good: Spa access with every stay: 17-metre heated indoor pool, gym, sauna and steam
- Good: Paddling, swimming, woodland trails and activities for children
- Good: Bar & Kitchen on the lake, from breakfast to dinner, open to non-residents and dogs
- Worth knowing: Houses, cabins and apartments: 30% deposit, balance six weeks before; no refund inside six weeks
- Worth knowing: Many homes are privately owned, so each one differs
About
The Lakes by YOO is a private estate of lakes, woodland and holiday homes at Coln Park, between Fairford and Lechlade. It covers 850 acres of lakes, woodland and open country; many of its houses are privately owned, and the estate lets rooms, cabins and homes to visitors.
You can stay in a classic room for a short break, an apartment, a lakeside cabin or a house sleeping up to 14, many with a hot tub, a pool or their own way into the water. Every stay includes the spa, with a 17-metre heated indoor pool, gym, sauna and steam room, and the activities: swimming and paddling in the lakes, woodland trails and paddleboarding, and for families a zipline, treetop adventures and tennis. The Lakes Bar & Kitchen serves breakfast (8am to 10.30am) to dinner by the water, is open to non-residents and welcomes dogs, with guest chefs at its supper clubs.
For houses, cabins, rooms and apartments booked more than six weeks ahead, a 30% deposit secures the stay and the balance is due six weeks before arrival; cancel earlier than that and you still owe 30%, later and you owe the full price. On the bed and breakfast offer, payment is due two days before arrival and is then non-refundable. Check-out is by 10am. Dogs come only if booked ahead and accepted (not every home takes them; £50 a dog in cabins, rooms and apartments), and must stay on the ground floor and off beds and chairs. For a change from the estate, Lechlade and St John's Lock is a short walk along the Thames from the town.
The details
- Serving
- Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
- Check-out
- By 10am
- Features
- By the water · Restaurant · Bar · Spa · Swimming pool · Gym · Events and meetings
- Parking
- One space beside each cabin or apartment and two beside each house, with overflow parking on the estate; register number plates before you arrive. Public EV charging at the Spa.
Photos
A lakeside cabin 
An apartment sitting room 
A lake house living room 
Lake houses across the water
Location
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Mulberry and Thyme, Hillier Garden Centre, Lechlade 2.0 km away
- The Eight Bells, Fairford 2.7 km away
- 7a Coffee Shop, Fairford 3.0 km away
- The Plough Inn, Fairford 3.1 km away
Sights nearby
-
St John the Baptist, Inglesham
Sight · Church · Lechlade-on-Thames
A tiny church by the Thames at Inglesham, south of Lechlade, saved from Victorian restoration by William Morris: box pews, medieval screens, seven layers of wall paintings and a late Saxon Madonna and Child. Grade I; Churches Conservation Trust, open daily.
-
St Mary's Church, Fairford
Sight · Church · Fairford
Fairford's wool church, rebuilt in the 1490s by the merchant John Tame, holds 28 windows of glass made about 1500 to 1515, which the parish calls the only complete set of late medieval glass in any parish church in the country. Grade I; open daily, free.
-
Halfpenny Bridge, Lechlade
Sight · Bridge · Lechlade-on-Thames
The single tall stone arch that carries Thames Street over the Thames at Lechlade, built under a turnpike Act of 1792, with a little square tollhouse on its corner. Named after the halfpenny walkers paid until 1839. Grade II; free.
-
River Thames at Lechlade
Sight · River · Lechlade-on-Thames
The young Thames at Lechlade, where the Coln and the Leach join it and the old Thames and Severn Canal met it at the Round House: long the head of the navigable river, with the Thames Path past Halfpenny Bridge to St John's Lock.