ACCOMMODATION

Weekend in Wonderland

By Poppy Wilkinson

“To sleep: perchance to dream…” From a high-end tree house to a helicopter hideaway, one of Winvian’s 18 unique lavish concept-cottages is sure to fit your fancy.

The Camping Cottage

Driving through the rolling Litchfield Hills of Connecticut, we pull up to a quintessential white picket fence – only this one has an intercom. A soothing voice instructs us to cruise up the driveway lined by gnarled, majestic sugar maples.

There is no fussy reception or check-in process –­ just two shiny beach-cruiser bikes sitting in the sun outside the main house. A young Peruvian staff member explains that each cottage has its own pair of bikes, so we can test-drive ours later. Then she takes us on a casual tour of the property, as if she’s showing us her stately country home, where we are free to roam… and to play.

So this is Winvian, a new high-end hotel and spa that caters to a well-heeled clientele who might be getting tired of the same old, same old. I hesitate to even call the property a hotel. The 113-acre wooded estate boasts 18 unique concept-cottages designed by over 15 different architects such as David Sellers and Kimo Griggs.

Make no mistake: Winvian is a luxury getaway for the whimsical at heart. Whether it’s the Treehouse (a playful cottage hovering 10 metres above the ground), the Charter Oak cottage (with an imposing oak in the centre of the room) or the Helicopter cottage (housing a fully restored Sikorsky HH37 Sea King Pelican), there is a real sense of fun. The other cottages are also simultaneously quirky and opulent; the Camping cottage has a full glass wall that overlooks a secluded forest and comes with marshmallows to roast over the fire on the screened-in patio. But while the cottage themes play strongly, the property never feels kitschy.

We’re invited to make ourselves at home in the Gatsbyesque main house, which puts the emphasis on old-school pleasures. We ask for badminton to be set up on the lawn outside and make ourselves a mint julep in the afternoon. (The main house has several fully stocked open bars where guests can fix themselves a drink anytime.) Never having been one for being waited on hand and foot, I take note to have a pre-dinner cocktail in the Games Room and challenge Jeremy, my travel companion, to some table shuffleboard.

Out the window, across the koi fish pond, I spy smoke coming out a chimney down by the woods, and I am told it’s the spa, where we have pre-booked a fireside couple’s massage in the Suite of 40 Winks.

So we’re already duly impressed before we are even shown to our cottage. As we walk up to the door, we see a staff member coming out with a silver dome, having just dropped off a welcome cheese and charcuterie plate, fresh gazpacho and champagne on ice. We had chosen the CT Yankee in King Arthur’s Court cottage, a wink by architect Malcolm Appleton to the Mark Twain novel Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, where a time-travelling American is magically transported to medieval England. And so are we.

Walking into the cottage, we take in the imposing herringbone fireplace, exposed beams and a four-poster king-size bed. But modern comforts are also right at hand, including a Bose sound system, a fully stocked wet bar, a Nespresso coffee station and a last-to-bed bedside switch that turns off all the lights.

As we learn later, after talking to other guests, every cottage has its particular pièce de résistance, and ours is the bathroom. Going with a Stonehenge vibe, the bathroom (stocked with hip British amenities by REN) is made up of granite slabs. A made-for-two Jacuzzi bathtub looks onto a massive glass-walled steam room with two rain showerheads and all-important individual controls.

At dinner that night, the meal feels special but not stuffy. Our Italian-born host for the evening pours us a glass of Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir (the French champagne giant’s U.S. outpost), but he also kindly gives us a tip on an excellent and inexpensive Chilean wine to try at home (Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Merlot). We choose roasted squab with cherries from the bespoke menu, and not having much room for dessert, I ask for a single scoop of the artisanal ice cream – a startlingly refreshing Corona sorbet.

Chatting with the other guests about their cottages is a natural icebreaker. We all have a gleam in our eyes from our surprising discoveries – our own personal Alice-in-Wonderland moments of opening a door and not knowing what we’ll find. I almost feel a twinge of jealousy when I hear about the Beaver Lodge, one of the most popular cottages, with its dual-sided fireplace, handcrafted woodwork from a beaver dam and a bath that runs from a ceiling-height waterfall, but I push these thoughts aside as I remember tonight I’ll be sleeping like royalty. And, after all, I can always come back.

(Poppy Wilkinson is the editor-in-chief of onAir. She last wrote about hotels in Buenos Aires in the August issue.)