4. THE UPGRADE | Weekly

I asked for a wake up call, they sent me a rooster. Inside the British Farm Hotel boom, my 40th birthday girls' trip around the British countryside, and all the hospitality industry news you need

🗝️ The Upgrade · Weekly by Anne Marie Brown

May 5, 2026

In The Upgrade this week:

• Pre-Departure – I asked for a wake up call, they sent me a rooster – inside the British Farm Hotel boom

• The Room Report – My British Countryside 40th Birthday Hotel Recap

• The Lobby Bar – EU border lines, hotel earnings, travel’s record year, Belmond Villa San Michele reopens, COMO Le Beauvallon restored, Sensei Lanai expanding, and Uber delivers hotels.

Travelers,

If it seems everyone is heading to the Cotswolds to forage for wild garlic, visit storybook villages with wisteria-covered cottages, and drink overpriced lavender coffee while arranging flowers at Daylesford, you are witnessing the Farm Hotel marketing push.

The generation who turned to feeding their sourdough starters during Covid lockdown is going all-in on countryside living (but not in a Tradwife way). Farm Hotels went from “have you heard of this?” to fully booked six months in advance.

Confession – I’ve just started reading Lydia Millen’s Evergreen Journal and own several Holland and Cooper tweed ensembles, so I absolutely am the target market.

For example, this week The Room Report covers my 40th birthday trip through the English countryside. Very on-brand. Read on for my deep dive into the Farm Hotel zeitgeist.

Happy travels!

Anne Marie, Co-Founder, Alpenglow Travel

Yours truly at Estelle Manor on my 40th birthday trip in the British Countryside.

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🗝️ Pre-Departure – Hospitality Industry Hot Takes

The Farm Hotel Moment

There’s a Plum Sykes piece making the rounds about the American-Sloane Aesthetic movement – the Barbour-wearing, countryside-romanticizing set that has moved from a British niche to the “quiet luxury” signal filling my Instagram feed. Sykes described throwing a dinner for American writer Chris Black in London, horrified that he wore a Barbour jacket to the affair in full view of the other guests. Sykes, the voice of the Cotswolds luxury ladies, observes that “the British country thing will always be romanticized because it’s so classy.” (P.S. by Plum Sykes, April 2026)

That countryside aesthetic is attached to a hospitality category, Farm Hotels.

In 2022, U.S. private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, which has invested exclusively in travel and leisure for over 30 years (and which purchased my family’s company, Outrigger Hotels, in 2016), acquired The Pig Hotels, the UK’s defining farm hotel group. At time of acquisition, The Pig portfolio was running 91% average occupancy. The most recent filings show turnover at £50.6 million across nine properties for 2024, with ADR (average daily rate) growth even as occupancy softened slightly to 77% amid broader UK hospitality headwinds.

Meanwhile, across the broader hotel industry in 2025, luxury hotels posted 5.3% RevPAR (revenue per available room) growth while the economy segment slowed by 1.8%.

Farm Hotels are not cheap to run. The kitchen garden, the hyper-local sourcing, etc. all take a bite out of margin. However, their play is more on TRevPAR (total revenue per available room), community engagement, and loyalty.

Farm Hotels capture more of each guest’s wallet than city hotels because their guests are essentially captive.

You’re eating all three organic meals on property, booking local honey facials at the spa, paying for falconry jaunts, buying jam from the farm shop, doing the biodynamic wine tasting – all without leaving.

Industry data puts full-service hotel TRevPAR at 1.3 to 2 times RevPAR. Farm Hotels with a captive audience and five revenue streams sit at the top of that range.

Across hospitality broadly, repeat guests contribute 41% of revenue despite occupying only about 8% of the beds. Community engagement is what drives Farm Hotels’ loyalty and repeat business. Their revenue streams extend well beyond the guest stay.

For example, The Pig sources within 25 miles of each property, building a strong local reputation for those looking to support local business. Babylonstoren – in South Africa – runs a wine club for people who’ve never set foot on the property. Heckfield Place hosts movie nights for Hampshire locals in their basement theater.

The community flywheel is harder to put a number on than RevPAR, and thanks to that, it’s harder for bigger brands to replicate.

Why are Farm Hotels trending?

People are exhausted from over-stimulation. Travelers are looking to put their phones on silent, read an actual book, pick some flowers, and listen to the birds. Throw in gathering eggs and a giant soaking tub and I’m in.

One note for families: these properties aren’t universally engineered around children. Thyme and The Pig both welcome kids, but if you need a kids’ club and a pool, hit up Estelle Manor.

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The category has a few clear leaders in the UK.

The Pig started it. Robin Hutson failed his O-levels. He started as a waiter at Claridge’s, worked his way through hotel management, co-founded Hotel du Vin (the boutique brand that rewrote British hospitality in the 1990s), and sold it for £66 million. In 2011, he opened the first Pig in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, built around a kitchen garden and a rule he called the “25-mile menu”: every dish sourced from the property or from producers within 25 miles. He deliberately eschewed Michelin stars. The ethos is abundance displayed in gloriously unkempt kitchen gardens, potager menus, foraging walks, and wood-fired ovens. There are now ten Pig hotels across England, each following the same rules.

A failed O-level student proved that farm-to-table hospitality could scale without losing its soul.

The Pig

Thyme, outside the village of Southrop in the Cotswolds is a more architecturally oriented version of the same idea. Spread across multiple barns, cottages, and structures centered on a medieval manor house, Thyme boasts curated interiors, serious food, a cooking school, a farm shop, and a proper spa.

Caryn Hibbert was an obstetrician in London when she spotted Southrop Manor in an issue of Country Life and decided she was ready to midwife something different.

She moved her family to this 16th-century manor in 2002, with a vague notion of growing vegetables and raising her children in the countryside. The derelict farm buildings on the property needed a purpose, so her father, an engineer, said he’d restore them if she’d build a business. And has she ever!

Thyme

Heckfield Place. I visited this lovely little gem on my 40th birthday jaunt through England last year, and immediately decided to redecorate my entire house in that aesthetic, much to my husband’s dismay.

Dr. Gerald Chan, a Hong Kong-born billionaire and co-founder of Morningside Group, bought a 400-acre Georgian estate in Hampshire and spent over a decade restoring it before opening its first room in 2019. The farm is 100% biodynamic certified, the first hotel in the UK to achieve this distinction. Biodynamic reaches beyond organic: the farm operates as a self-sustaining ecosystem, planting and harvesting on lunar and cosmic cycles. Seven climate-controlled greenhouses grow sixty to seventy vegetable crops and forty to fifty varieties of cut flowers that grace its guest rooms. The farm also supplies the spa, which uses only estate-grown botanicals.

Skye Gyngell, who previously held a Michelin star at Petersham Nurseries Café, runs the estate restaurant, Marle. There we enjoyed a long, luscious dinner during which we imbibed a bit too much organic wine and spotted an Instagram influencer wearing a green tulle ballgown being photographed in the gardens. In February 2025, Marle earned a Green Michelin Star for sustainable gastronomy. The full field-to-fork experience, with a cozy, sunlit lobby lounge, feels like a magazine version of my living room.

Our visit to Heckfield Place, spotting influencer Lauren McDermott there

International versions:

Blackberry Farm in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains is the original. Wildflower Farms in New York’s Hudson Valley (Auberge Resorts Collection) is the new option.

Babylonstoren in South Africa’s Cape Winelands – a working farm dating to 1692 with a 3.5-hectare garden growing over 300 edible and medicinal plants, two farm-to-fork restaurants, a wine estate, and renovated historic cottages. I’m going in January, stay tuned.

🗝️ The Room Report – Personal reviews from my own travels

British countryside hotels

Last year I hit 40, and I decided the right way to celebrate would be cavorting around the English countryside with five of my closest friends. The itinerary: the Belmond British Pullman murder mystery train, Cliveden House, Four Seasons Hampshire, Estelle Manor, and dinner at Heckfield Place.

Belmond British Pullman. I’ve been dying to do the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for years. However, the price led me to realize I could either spend three nights with my husband living that dream or take my five best friends on a different week-long adventure. The girls’ trip won. We did the Belmond murder mystery route – I am an Agatha Christie devotee – dressed in 1920s costume. We spent a full day nibbling through an endless meal while trying to decipher clues as characters made their way up and down the train. Nearly three quarters of the passengers dressed up which was half the fun. A long day with a lot of wine. Despite feeling clueless at solving mysteries, I highly recommend the experience.

Cliveden House. Built in 1666 by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham as a gift to his mistress, now a Relais & Châteaux property. The grounds are beyond gorgeous, and a public park surrounds the estate. Turns out it’s possible to get lost on the grounds when you’re a group of 40-year-old women whose Google Maps won’t load. We hired the vintage river boat for an hour-long tour of the property and its history. A candid caveat: for 17th-century authenticity, there was no air conditioning. We left the sash windows open and a very pleasant doorman spent part of the evening evicting bees from our suite. If you go in summer, know what you’re signing up for.

Four Seasons Hampshire. A restored 18th-century manor 40 minutes outside London, FS Hampshire felt like a Jane Austen novel, except the beds are Four Seasons, the best we slept in on the trip. Room 1107 is the heritage suite in the manor house – book it. The canal boat tour is pricey but entirely worth it. Croquet on the lawn with a bar cart and a local club member explaining the rules was the afternoon I didn’t know I needed. Guest Services Director Adam is from Oxfordshire and knows the countryside well. Pick his brain. I will be back here with my kids.

Estelle Manor

Estelle Manor. I had been stalking this hotel since it opened and was genuinely worried it would be a scene full of influencers with service that couldn’t match the aesthetic. But it exceeded expectations. The Enshym Baths Roman Spa Thermal Journey is just glorious, with 180 minutes of cold plunges, a Scottish Bucket, steam rooms with heated marble slabs, and Ayurvedic food in the tea room. Off-roading in the Ineos Grenadier through the back tracks of the Oxfordshire estate was a riot. Dining in the Japanese restaurant and the Dim Sum billiards room was excellent. The only hiccups: front desk made several billing errors and check-in was slow, a real pet peeve. Everything else was perfection.

🗝️ The Lobby Bar – Hospitality updates, promotions, and the occasional pun

The EU Border Change That’s Already Creating Four-Hour Lines

The EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) requires US passport holders to register biometrics at the border on first entry into any Schengen country, and processing times are up to 70% slower at peak airports. Reports from clients are that things are running smoothly at CDG and slow in Lisbon. Book a VIP arrival service if you’re worried.

Hotel Earnings Season

April-May earnings calls are shaping up as the industry’s clearest read on demand quality and pricing power after a weak 2025, with investors closely watching energy costs, World Cup pacing, and margin resilience.

Travel Had Its Best Year Ever in 2025

The World Travel & Tourism Council reported travel’s global GDP contribution hit a record $11.6 trillion in 2025, growing at 4.1% versus overall global growth of 2.8%, with Asia-Pacific climbing 8.1% and North America up just 1%.

U.S. Hotel Construction Is Contracting

CoStar data shows U.S. hotel construction has declined for 15 straight months to 136,990 rooms – the longest pullback since 2008 – with luxury the only segment growing (+4.5%) and overall supply growth at just 1.4%.

European Hotel Investment

Per Hospitalitynet, European hotel investment jumped 23% to €27 billion in 2025 even as RevPAR grew just 2% – investors are buying ahead of recovery, which means well-capitalized properties are actively improving product.

Belmond’s Villa San Michele Reopens

Villa San Michele reopened April 28 after an 18-month renovation with 39 redesigned rooms, a new Guerlain spa, and restored Fiesole gardens – full details here. If Florence is on the list this year, this is the property.

COMO Le Beauvallon Opens on the French Riviera

COMO just opened Le Beauvallon on the Riviera following a full restoration – worth flagging for anyone with the South of France on the radar this summer.

Sensei Lanai Is Expanding

Larry Ellison’s Sensei wellness brand is expanding beyond its original Four Seasons Lanai property into a global network, with a new partnership at Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Baja.

Uber Now Books Hotels

Uber launched hotel bookings this week through a partnership with Expedia Group, giving its 202 million monthly users access to over 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 20% off a rotating list of 10,000 hotels and 10% back in Uber credits. The company is also adding VRBO vacation rentals later this year and a room service feature that delivers to your door via Uber Eats.

🗝️ Anne Marie

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