Sometimes, you just want to spend your weekend sitting in a hot tub with a good drink and an even better view. If you’re on the lookout for a reasonably-priced glamping spot in the UK that also boasts hot tub access, and you like the idea of hanging out with a bunch of llamas for the weekend, then I’ve got just the place for you.
Recently, after spending a fair amount of time Googling things like ‘glamping with hot tubs’ and ‘hot tub glamping’ I stumbled upon this place by happy semi-accident. Located just outside of Wisbech, an easy hour’s drive from either Norwich or Cambridge, Faster Lente Llamas is a glamping-site-meets-llama-farm stroke of genius, and it’s the perfect place to go for a quiet weekend away from it all.
Faster Lente Llamas
Faster Lente Llamas have rave reviews all over the internet, and it isn’t hard to see why. Despite the fact that you can take a leisurely 15-minute stroll up the road to the nearest corner shop, at the edge of Wisbech, the site’s location is just far enough out to have views of open countryside and a sense of being much more remote than you really are.
There are only two glamping caravans on the site, which means you’ll never find yourself feeling penned in by other people – but Faster Lente also have a marquee in the midst of things which serves as an artist’s studio and communal lounge area. Though the business is relatively new, the owner – a wonderful woman called Tina who loves the animals here like family – is already arranging tonnes of great things to do here throughout the year, from art classes to yoga.
The accommodation
Currently there are two very cute caravans at Faster Lante Llamas, each with their own summer house, BBQ area and firepit, as well as optional hot tub. (Although if you aren’t opting for a hot tub, you are very foolish, in my opinion.) We stayed in Nayeli, and the other is Melissa Christina.
The caravans are on opposite sides of the land to one another, with hedges and a field in between. During our stay there were guests in the other caravan, and aside from meeting them one day while we were all out admiring the llamas at the same time, we’d never have known they were there!
The green caravan you can see in the photo above is one that’s not in use for guests, and mostly acts as a hiding place for the free roaming ducks and chickens who live here with the llamas.
What’s included
Both caravans are suited to couples rather than friends or families, as they feature just one double bed for sleeping in, along with everything you need for a comfortable stay – a kitchenette that includes an oven with a hob, toaster and kettle, fridge with an icebox and so on, and a bathroom with flushing loo and shower cubicle. Fluffy robes and slippers help to add some extra luxe feel to this rustic accommodation.
Inside they are clean and comfortable, with plenty of llama-themed decorations and a useful stash of things like cooking oil, salt, pepper and sauces. As well as classic B&B-style mini jams and marmalades, we were also greeted on arrival with bread, juice and milk (let them know in advance if you’re vegan/dairy-free!) and though the sun was shining for most of our trip, a cupboard housing mini playing cards and games proved useful when it did rain for a while.
We were given enough wood to keep the fire pit going all weekend if we’d wanted to, and brief instructions on how to ensure the hot tub stayed hot throughout our stay. For Nayeli, the hot tub is housed in a geodesic dome which can have a cover pulled over it in the event of bad weather – so you can still bubble away even if it rains! – and there are also fairy lights all the way around for top notch glamping vibes.
While you are out in the countryside, nestled between an orchard and a field of happy llamas, those of you as technologically-addicted as I am will be pleased to hear there’s free WiFi throughout the site.
Llamas, chickens and running ducks
Of course, when you book a stay at a place named by Airbnb and Booking.com simply as ‘Glamping with llamas’, it isn’t just the cosy caravan and I-feel-so-fancy hot tub that you’re going for. The thing that really makes this place as wonderful as it is, is that you get to hang out with a rad bunch of llamas while you’re there.
Llamas are very chill creatures, more cat-like than dog-like in their attitude to people – that is, they are happy for you to hang out and share their space, but they aren’t going to come running over to you begging for a fuss. When you’ve got treats in your hand, however, you can command a little more attention…
If you’re envisioning the llama farm as having the llamas kept separate from the glamping accommodation, then you are envisioning wrong, my friends. All of the animals that live here are as free range as they come, and while there are fences around the site, the llamas can stroll around wherever they please!
In Nayeli, we typically woke up to find llamas outside the caravan chewing on nettles, and whenever we were in the hot tub they’d come to parade around the BBQ area and watch us poaching ourselves in the water.
Part of each stay includes an orientation with the llamas, where Tina or her assistant will walk you around the site and tell you a bit about each animal – their names and personalities, relation to each other, favourite habits and so on – and you’ll get a chance to feed them nutritious pellets of food that seem to be to llamas what Dreamies are to cats. If you want to get close to the llamas and really make some new fluffy friends, holding out a palm full of pellets is the way to do it.
Ethical eggs
It isn’t just llamas you can meet on the farm though, as Tina and her family also keep chickens and ducks. These are just as free range as the llamas, and we did get visited by hens and cockerels while we were in the hot tub as well!
If you eat eggs, it doesn’t really get more ethical and sustainable than the fresh eggs you might be treated to while you’re here. Though my partner and I generally follow a vegan lifestyle, I have no ethical objection to eating eggs from a happy hen that roams around being well loved and looked-after in someone’s back yard.
As the hens here lay so many eggs, Tina is more than happy to bestow a fresh batch upon you in the morning whenever there are some going spare – but she did check with us before leaving them outside the caravan door, so if you’re not keen they won’t be forced upon you!
There are also a group of Bali-crested running ducks living at Faster Lente, which are beautiful animals to see running around in the fields and bathing in puddles.
They seemed to get on pretty well with the squirrels, rabbits and various small birds we saw over the June weekend of our visit, and all in all the array of wildlife you can watch from your window or hot tub makes for an incredibly wholesome staycation feel.
Booking & other things to know
While glamping with llamas at Faster Lente is currently adults-only, you can bring children here for birthday parties and other special events. Tina and her crew are happy to organise things like buffet lunches and party bags, as well as prosecco on arrival for adult groups.
If you are staying here for a special occasion, things like champagne or prosecco and flowers can be booked as add-ons in advance, though I’m pretty confident this will be easiest if you book through the website rather than a third-party vendor.
Glamping here starts at £75 per night (that’s per caravan, not per person) and we paid an extra £40 to have a hot tub for the duration of our three night stay.
Depending on your preference, here are a few ways to book a stay:
- The Faster Lente website
- Airbnb – go here for Nayeli or here for Melisa Christina
- Booking.com – either caravan can be booked here
If you haven’t booked with either of the third-party sites before, don’t forget you can get some money off with one of my referral codes! Get £15 off at Booking.com here, or £25 off at Airbnb here!
If you’ve found any other awesome glamping sites that you think deserve a shout out, let me know! I’m always after any excuse to go on another trip, and happy to promote cool businesses who deserve attention.