One thing I dont feel like you see enough of these days is full and frank reviews.
It's mainly an issue for me because I'm that kind of anal type A personality that googles like mad in order to research every inch of a place before I decide whether I'm going to spend the money and commit to going there. I tend to rely on trip advisor a lot, especially for viewing visitors photos because I find those seem to provide the most honest of reviews. (possibly because whilst words can be embellished or lie photos not so much?)
I do really enjoy reading blog posts that bloggers have written about their stay-cations too but find that many tend to focus on only the positives - on what a great trip they had and how beautiful the place was without mentioning any of the negatives. And I mean no place can be perfect right?
So with those frustrations in mind I vowed to myself, before even stepping foot in North Star Club or anywhere else we might visit this summer, that I would commit to a fully rounded review so that anyone who is like me and likes to search places before they go may come across this and it might help them in knowing more about it, pro's and cons included.
Let me start by saying that all the people who run North Star Club that we met (and there wasn't many as we were just left to our own devices more or less - which we wanted!) were really great. The lady who showed us round on our first day was lovely and informative and after briefly showing us the cabin and advising us on the nearest pub to watch the England match, (and what a bloody disappointment that match was) left us to it. The perfect balance of helpful without taking up too much of our time!
North Star is mainly made up of three parts: The cabin, the Woodshed (communal area) and the surroundings.
The Cabin
For our cabin choice we chose to stay in The Star Suite. I actually purchased the getaway as James' fathers day present and advertised as the sites 'most luxurious of suites with rustic decor and an infra red sauna' I felt it fit the bill perfectly.
Let me tell you, it certainly didn't disappoint. The suite was GORGEOUS, and I mean really blow your mind level of gorgeous. With twinkling lights everywhere you turn, gorgeous copper accents and even books and plants on the walls, it was obvious the entire place had been designed with a lot of care and attention to all of the little things, things that would be over looked anywhere else. And boy did it make a difference. I'm not exaggerating when saying that The Star Suite and North Star Club as a whole is easily the most beautiful place I've ever ever stayed in.
However that being said, there were some weird things about the design worth mentioning as it felt almost as though they'd spent so much time focusing on the little quirky things that they'd left a bit of common sense behind when it came to the bigger things! For example the bathroom was totally decadent and idyllic and probably my favourite room in the suite, however the double doors to the bathroom opened out on to the main walking path. So the doors couldn't really be opened unless you wanted to risk being seen naked by passers-by or dog walkers which I'm guessing most people wont. (I did because y'know yolo - but I was slightly on edge the whole time thinking someone might walk past!) Same with the sauna which was placed near the bridge and close to the footpath and which I couldn't help feel might be better placed in a more secluded spot. However aside from being slightly strange these didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things and it certainly didn't dampen our time there in any way. The rest of the layout was great and as I said every single room had beautiful touches that made you feel as though you were somewhere entirely magical.
See photos below:
The Woodshed
The Woodshed is the communal part of North Star Club and I don't think I was prepared for just how incredible all the communal touches around the site would actually be. The woodshed itself is seriously so cool, a gorgeous shed turned into communal space complete with lots of sofas and comfy blankets, hot drinks, brownies and board games for anyone staying at North Star to enjoy. (luckily we were the only ones there that week and so we got the place to ourselves the entire time!) However there was also so many other thoughtful communal spaces outdoors that I hadn't realised would be there too. A pizza oven which we made use of during our final night, lots of rustic wood tables and chairs outside and a gigantic tent for a campfire that was big enough to fit plenty of people. Slightly further up into the woods there was also more tents with picnic tables underneath and even an outdoor toilet (which is done up to be so much nicer than your average portaloo!) Just fantastic and again clearly well thought through.
The Surroundings
The area that North Star was in was really beautiful. On the outskirts of York, the site is on the edge of a quaint little village with bumpy back to basic dirt style tracks meaning you really do feel like you're in the middle of nowhere (when in reality the nearest Tesco superstore is a 4 minute drive away - we know, we satnavved it!)
The trees in the forest are stunning and there's nature everywhere from pine cones around your feet to the family of hedgehogs we discovered living outside our cabin on the first night. We took a walk one morning and a frog jumped in front of us on the path too, so cute! The only slight negative I would say is that the forest is perhaps not as big as I'd first envisioned and there isn't many long walks around to do as there would be if you were to stay at somewhere like Keldy Forest. However you feel like North star club is more focused on the retreat side of things, staying in or close to your cabin and relaxing - and that suited us perfectly fine! Plus the short walk we did take one morning was beautiful and serene (despite being attacked by an insane amount of midges and mosquitoes! which was obviously a seasonal thing and not the sites fault!)
So there we have it. The overall pros and cons are as follows:
Pros
The decor and the feel of the cabins inside - second to none
The bath - The best bath I have EVER been in. If we don't purchase a deep copper bath when we move house I'll be severely disappointed - nothing else will do now
The bed - The comfiest bed I have ever stayed in for sure
The communal areas - So thoughtfully put together and a big highlight of our stay
The people who work there - They're all so friendly and smiley and as I mentioned above have the perfect balance of leaving you to your privacy but ensuring that you know they'd be there to help should any problems occur (which they didn't!)
Cons
Bathroom doors opening on to foot path
Smaller woodland than first thought (although like I said it wasn't actually an issue or disappointment at all. But still worth noting for anyone out there fancying long hikes)
Cabin less hidden away than first thought (but this can be remedied by choosing one of North Star Clubs 'hideaway' suites rather than the 'Star suite')
I think I've said all there is to say however if you're reading this and have any further questions then feel free to drop me a line via my contact bar - or contact North Star themselves of course.
I guess a true representation of how you feel about a place is whether or not you'd want to return. And would we?
Absolutely unequivocally yes.
And hopefully sooner rather than later at that!
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