An exclusive club where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have stayed twice this year has sparked an outcry over its expansion plans.
The £6,000-a-night Soho Farmhouse at Great Tew in the Cotswolds has been labelled ‘Butlins for toffs’ and boasts celebrity guests such as Eddie Redmayne, Mark Ronson, Poppy Delevingne and George andAmal Clooney.
The private members’ club-cum-hotel, which has become a haven for stars who want to go under the radar, has put forward plans to build ten ‘pods’ to house an extra 40 guest bedrooms as well as a further ten guest cottages.
The £6,000-a-night Soho Farmhouse at Great Tew in the Oxfordshire countryside has been labelled ‘Butlins for toffs’
Locals have claimed the proposed pods, to be clad in corrugated iron, look like ‘something from the smart part of Soweto’
The club has put forward plans to build ten ‘pods’ to house an extra 40 guest bedrooms as well as a further ten guest cottages
Jemima Khan, Martha Ward (left), Suki Waterhouse, Georgia May Jagger and Immy Waterhouse (right) have been to the venue
Lady Mary Charteris (left) and Professor Green (right), real name Stephen Manderson, are both fans of Soho Farmhouse
Boy George is pictured at Mark Ronson’s 40th birthday at the private members’ club-cum-hotel in the Cotswolds
The expansion plans were approved on Monday by West Oxfordshire District Council despite opposition among angry local residents, who say its lavish expansion plans will destroy their rural idyll.
One said: ‘This expansion will increase traffic on small country lanes leading to the entrance of Soho Farmhouse, making the surrounding area busy and dangerous for local people in this very rural and quiet location.’
A parish meeting debating the plans had raised fears about people driving at high speed to get to the club. Locals had also said the pods, to be clad in corrugated iron, look like ‘something from the smart part of Soweto’.
A spokesman for Soho House, the exclusive London club of which Soho Farmhouse is an offshoot, previously said they had been speaking with residents about the plans and had a ‘great response’ from most of the community.
The spokesman said that working with the community was important and that the club would be investing in and managing improvements. It is not known when expansion work will begin.
The venue, where a studio cabin is pictured, boasts celebrity guests such as Eddie Redmayne and George and Amal Clooney
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have already stayed at Soho Farmhouse twice this year for mini-breaks, in February and July
Luxury cabins at the farmhouse on an exclusive 100-acre site in the Oxfordshire countryside cost up to £725 a night
The expansion plans were approved this week by West Oxfordshire District Council despite opposition among local residents
At the Gatehouse check-in, guests leave their cars and are transferred up to the Main Barn in a refurbished 1950s milk float
Romance blossomed for Harry and Miss Markle at the 100-acre site, but it has long been the source of anger among residents who have complained about their tranquil community being ruined by ‘arrogant Londoners’.
The couple have had two mini-breaks, in February and July, at Soho Farmhouse, where luxury cabins at the farmhouse cost up to £725 a night. Members say it’s likely the pair took the main farmhouse for £6,000 a night.
The venue, which was launched in 2015 with a party attended by David and Samantha Cameron, is owned by the West London club Soho House, whose consultant Markus Anderson introduced Harry and Meghan last July.
It currently has 31 cabin buildings, a four-bed cottage and a seven-bed farmhouse. Guests can also enjoy an 82ft (25m) outdoor infinity pool, which connects to a heated 52ft (16m) indoor pool, with steam room and sauna.
Nick Jones owns 10 per cent of the Soho House business. He is backed by U.S. billionaire Ron Burkle, who owns 60 per cent, and tycoon Richard Caring, who owns 30 per cent.
For entertainment at Soho Farmhouse, guests can take yoga classes on surfboards fixed in a shallow pool
Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds currently has 31 cabin buildings, a four-bed cottage and a seven-bed farmhouse (above)
Residents in Oxfordshire have complained about their tranquil community being ruined by ‘arrogant Londoners’
A parish meeting debating the plans had raised fears about people driving at high speed to get to the club
The owners say working with the community is important and they will be investing in and managing improvements
The club in the Costwolds forbids the taking of photos of VIP celebrity guests with phone cameras
In January, Mr Jones put fees up, saying the clubs are ‘costing more and more’ to run. Full annual membership rose by £250 to £1,650. Last year Mail columnist Jan Moir described Soho Farmhouse as a ‘pleasure dome powerbase’.
She wrote: ‘Cocktail ‘trucks’ tootle between the cabins delivering freshly mixed martinis and you can book a man in a van to come and cook a full English breakfast outside your front door.’
Moir added: ‘An offshoot of the capital’s uber-celeb club Soho House, it sits on a remarkable confluence of society ley lines, taking in showbiz, politics, the media, rock ‘n’ roll, the fashion pack, royalty and the film industry.’
Other previous guests include Liam Gallagher and the MP Tom Watson, who struck up a friendship over a whisky session in the bar, along with singer Paloma Faith, Suki and Immi Waterhouse and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
One local said the expansion plans (pictured) will increase traffic on small country lanes leading to the entrance of the venue
The exclusive venue in Oxfordshire has put forward plans to build ten ‘pods’ (pictured) to house an extra 40 guest bedrooms
The plans will make the surrounding area busy and dangerous for local people in the rural and quiet location, one local said
Two options have been put forward for the layout of the expansion plans at the 100-acre site in Oxfordshire
The club forbids the taking of photos of VIP celebrity guests with phone cameras. One couple who surreptitiously tried to get guests David and Victoria Beckham into the background of their selfie had their memberships revoked.
Last month the Daily Mail revealed that the company that runs the group’s European ‘houses’, SHG Acquisition (UK), posted a £34.48 million loss for the year to January 1, 2017, increasing from £11.12 million the previous year.
The group has also completed a £275 million refinancing with debt company Permira. The accounts say: ‘Soho House & Co has debt, and may incur additional indebtedness, which may negatively affect our business.’
Soho Farmhouse’s trading had been ‘below expectations’, according to documents filed with West Oxfordshire District Council last month, with a loss of £5.34 million, after depreciation, for its first year.