Sitting inside her holiday rental, Zoe Fletcher lounged on the sofa, waiting for her friends to arrive. Every year, the 48-year-old from Nottinghamshire books a weekend getaway for herself and seven pals. Having “reached the age where we all like our own bedroom”, she found the Water Mill, a Grade II-listed property in Derbyshire’s Peak District. When each of her friends strolled through the door, wheelie suitcase in hand, there was only one exclamation on their lips: “Wow.”
Pulling up outside, they would probably have clocked the old wooden waterwheel, babbling brook and outdoor hot tub. Inside, they may have noticed the Insta-friendly decor, all oak beams and 16th-century stonework. But the piece-de-resistance is arguably the Water Mill’s leather-seated champagne bar, something the friends enjoyed with gusto all weekend long.
