There's something distinctly theatrical about New Year's Eve celebrations; as in tales of old, everything changes when the clock strikes twelve. In luxurious country homes around the nation, sentimentalists gush over the passage of time whilst hedonists are made merry on magnums of Champagne. And children, once adamant to partake in the festivities, snatch forty winks in the arms of aunties, not designed for all-nighters. Quiet times are had in romantic cottages, where canapé-scoffing dogs are none the wiser to New Year's resolutions, and couples ring in midnight with card games and cocoa. From glittering affairs where doe-eyed grandparents waltz under crystal chandeliers to slumberous gatherings spent counting down the moments 'til bedtime, New Year's Eve house parties are as unique as the folk who make them. New year, same them - just the way it's supposed to be.
Orpheus
Did someone pick a sugar cube from the jar, give it a hipped-slate bonnet, and chisel six-over-six sash windows beneath the eaves? Fantasy pokes a portal into the real world at Orpheus, a seventeenth-century cuboid that makes a case for chinoiserie in sought-after Southwold. With lashings of royal flavour, this historic New Year's-ready manor by Suffolk's Broads features empire garland chandeliers from Sotheby's, the same palatial bathtubs found in Buckingham Palace, and one of the earliest Imperial tables, made for letting the weight of squidgy Suffolk blue and damson jam fall on its reeded mahogany legs. All this, wrapped on all sides by depictions of the gods and heroes of antiquity.
From £14,995 for a 3-night New Year's break (sleeping 14)
Castle India
A luxurious Cornish fortress that happens where The Jungle Book meets Pride and Prejudice, Castle India is the place for rambunctious parties with large groups of friends and family, and everything out of the ordinary. Think: sipping on clementine martinis speckled with gold leaf and whirling around Persian rooms of forest-green and swirling motifs. Set the dress code to Mad Hatter's Tea Party and make like the Met Gala; this fantastical manor in the Tamar Valley is waiting for a kaleidoscopic New Year’s all-nighter.
From £9,350 for a 4-night New Year's break (sleeping 18)
Morwell
Assemble your coterie and make for Morwell, a luxury farmhouse nurtured by 50 acres of magical woodland. From telling stories by the inglenook fire to cinema room get-togethers with hot buttered popcorn, this home is a slice of whitewashed Cornish cosy that’s made for swapping packed-in New Year's parties for easy family gatherings. When the late-night chatterings are done and day breaks on January, devour a breakfast of slow oats before sinking into the clawfoot tub as rain dashes the stone jamb and mullions of this 17th century sanctuary.
From £4,395 for a 7-night New Year's break (sleeping 8)
Amaia
We’ll see your party and raise you a hiding place on a quiet stretch of the south Cornwall coast. As the season for new beginnings approaches, Amaia offers the kind of New Year that’s all about blowing off the cobwebs in luxury; start a January 1st tradition of wild swimming with private access to Plaidy Beach, then thaw in the hot tub before letting the fire draw the crowds in. While little ones flump in front of festive movies and the family chefs knead dough in preparation for the pizza party, you'll pray for snow to wrap the glass that keeps you.
From £12,995 for a 7-night New Year's break (sleeping 10)
The Lost Music Hall
Counting walled gardens, orchards, and a grand music room among its New Year’s Eve party spaces, this enigmatic residence in south Devon is no stranger to sentimental balls and Champagne-drenched countdowns. One of the best-kept secrets on the British homestay scene, The Lost Music Hall is something of a celebratory shapeshifter; fit to handle long banquet tables toppling with pistachio macarons and goat's cheese crostini and backyard jubilees where a mandolin-player can lead a conga line beneath the grand Italianate terrace.
From £3,695 for a 4-night New Year's break (sleeping 6)
Pearl's Place
Down a wooded lane in Frome, it’s hard to believe that Pearl’s Place is not a figment of one's imagination. As if the architects behind the abodes of Hansel and Gretel and Stevie Nicks mixed up their blueprints, this Somerset snuggery is part gothic, part gold gilt. Here is a place for two types of New Year's Eve party: go cottagecore, sipping hot apple cider by the fire, before whooping away the evening in a sophisticated black-tie shindig surrounded by patterns. If it were a sundae, it would be butter pecan, pistachio, and strawberry shortbread, all doused in hot fudge and sprinkles; no such thing as vanilla.
From £13,495 for a 7-night New Year's break (sleeping 18)
Romantic cottages for New Year's
What lovers don’t dream of a New Year’s sojourn, a luxury cottage with a hot tub to escape for midwinter woolgathering while the rest of the world is all abuzz? As one consults their horoscopes for the year of the Wood Dragon, the other fills coupes and cranks up the hot tub. For couples seeking romantic cottage escapes for New Year, we’ve got just the thing: think Hogmanay hideaways on a Scottish loch at Little Eden, midnight snacking on toasted marshmallows at The Limit, and tracing your names with crackling sparklers on the magical humpback bridge to Filly Island. For the ultimate in couples New Year's escapes, take a hop-skip to Lost Cottage in Ireland to soak in the carved stone tub as the sun sets on 2023 over Caragh Lake.
Browse our full list of homes with availability over New Year.
