Review of Natural Retreats, Yorkshire Dales

> For contact details, availability and booking, see greentraveller's full listing of Natural Retreats

On the first morning in our eco-friendly luxury lodge, we are woken early by a thudding sound. Tiptoeing into the open-plan living room, we discover a couple of baby birds have flown into the glass walls and fallen stunned onto our wooden terrace. I flap about eager to resuscitate them, even venturing outside in my nighty to look for worms, but in the end they fly off without any help. It’s a reminder that however impressed we might be that our weekend hideaway blends so perfectly into the surrounding woodland, who’s to know what the local wildlife thinks.

With a green sedum roof, glass walls and sustainable wooden decking, you can’t blame the birds. It’s hard to spot any of the nineteen holiday homes tucked away at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Staff at Natural Retreats prefer to call them ‘residences’ in an attempt to avoid being bracketed with the caravan parks and chalets in the area, but really they are more like bunkers, sunk into the hillside so that you can’t even see them from the road. Given their position within 55 acres of pristine farmland in Swaledale, close to the smart North Yorkshire town of Richmond, local planners wouldn’t have it any other way.

The idea behind Natural Retreats – which has just opened its seventh retreat in Cornwall, near St Austell – is it to provide luxury accommodation that is also sustainable. Yorkshire is its first development, but the formula has been rolled out across the UK, with five retreats in Ireland, as well as two in England. It has certainly got the luxury part right. Don’t come here for a rustic cottage with crumbling walls and an Aga. Our three bedroom apartment has a show-home feel, perhaps because it’s new, and the design is contemporary. Even the wood burner looks state of the art. The kitchen is better equipped than mine at home, with a shiny new dishwasher and microwave; our bedroom has an ensuite wet room, and there’s underfloor heating, plus a massive flat-screen TV, DVD player and sound system in the main room. Enough to make an eco-worrier suspicious, but it all runs off a green energy tariff and I must admit the contrast between this modern home and the remote woodland surroundings is quite fun.

Before long I’m installed on a vast leather sofa, Digibox in hand, watching rabbits hop onto the terrace and experiencing rainstorms as if I was out in them, but without the soggy clothes. While I like to think I’d sooner grab a tent and head into the woods for some genuine bonding with nature, I could get used to this. For people who don’t like to forgo creature comforts when they visit the countryside, it’s the ideal weekend retreat.

As for other eco touches, there’s still some work to be done. The wormeries haven’t arrived yet, so guests can’t compost their kitchen scraps, and the recycling system is a little confused with bins left out the back, presumably not to ruin the minimalist aesthetic. Whether it’s possible to combine luxury with sustainability is the question that comes to mind, and I’m not the only one to be cynical. Last time a journalist visited, the Tropicana orange juice and New Zealand apples in the welcome hamper came under fire. That’s been sorted, as ours is full of local cheeses, Fairtrade white wine and organic muesli.

Natural Retreats’ director, Ewan Kearney, says he gets plenty of comments from the dark green brigade about the big TVs not being eco-friendly. But when he walks past later, they’re usually the ones glued to it. If you don’t have anything like it at home, it’s hard to resist. Our hamper comes from the local grocer, who we are encouraged to visit for further supplies. There’s also information in a manual about other places to spend your pennies in the region, from markets and tearooms to the best pubs and restaurants. Particularly useful is a collection of pull-out cards containing maps with nearby walks.

It is this commitment to promoting the region that impresses me most. Not only does Natural Retreats employ local people and provide financial support for the economy, but it has resisted the urge to have facilities onsite. For anything other than accommodation, guests are packed off to Richmond - ideally, on foot. Lucky then that it’s a pleasant 25 minute walk into the town centre, along footpaths and quiet roads. We’re glad we didn’t bring the car, especially as Kearney is happy to arrange pick ups from Darlington station. Plus, our goodies from the farmers’ market – a giant pork pie, Swaledale cheese, some fiery tomato chutney and a Yorkshire Parkin for tea - taste all the better for being lugged up the hill.

In the afternoons, we could be out fishing, mountain biking or riding on the moors, but walks down to the River Swale and along the Coast to Coast footpath suit us fine. Sufficient exercise so that at the first sign of daylight fading, we can scamper back to the sofa, light the fire and slump in front of that big telly.

Info: A stay at Natural Retreats costs from £325 for two nights, sleeping six (includes linen, logs and food hamper).

For contact details, availability and booking, see greentraveller's full listing of Natural Retreats

An edited version of this review, by Anna Shepard, was first published in The Times.