A cedar pod alone in the trees
You come through a black metal gate off the Coxwold road, park, and then walk. Two hundred and fifty metres of woodland later the trees open and there it is: a small hand-built cedar building with a steep black roof, an arched door and a round window cut into the gable, standing on its own deck with a wooden hot tub beside it. There is no reception, no corridor, no neighbour through the wall. Just the pod, the trees and whatever the weather is doing.
Book it for a proper off-grid night for two: a king-size bed under a timber apex, your own wood-fired Japanese hot tub on the deck, and no mains electricity anywhere on the site. Skip it if you need a bathroom you can reach without going outside.
Sugi is one of three sites at Hinoki Retreat, run by Laura and Ben, who live nearby and are, by every account guests leave, quick to answer. The name is the Japanese word for cedar, and the Japanese thread runs through the whole thing, most obviously in the Ofuro tub. What makes it work is that the off-grid part is not a gimmick bolted onto a normal cabin. There is no mains power and no internet, and instead of apologising for that the hosts hand you power banks and a cool box and let the place be what it is.
The hot tub is the whole evening
The Ofuro is a two-person Japanese-style tub, wood-fired, sitting out on the decking with the estate falling away in front of it. You light the fire yourself and bring the water up to temperature, which takes a while and is, for most guests, the point rather than the chore. There is an optional service to have it hot for your arrival if you would rather skip that part.
Around it: a wood-burning stove inside the pod for when the evening turns, a fire pit with a grill and a hanging kettle for cooking outside, and a set of outdoor furniture to sit in while you wait. Guests write about this bit more than anything else, usually alongside the phrase they all seem to reach for independently, which is how quiet it is.
Coxwold, not York city
This matters enough to say plainly, because a lot of listings get it wrong. Sugi's postal address ends in York, and the YO61 postcode is genuinely a York postcode, but the pod is not in York. It is on the Newburgh Priory Estate just outside the village of Coxwold, roughly eighteen miles and about half an hour's drive north of the city, on the edge of the Howardian Hills.
That is a feature rather than a fault, as long as you know it before you book. What you get instead of a walk to the Minster is a Grade I country house on your doorstep, Laurence Sterne's Shandy Hall in the village, Byland Abbey a few miles away, and the North York Moors starting just north of you. York is a very good day out from here. It is not the view from the deck.
Why Book Sugi Wooden Pod?
There is a lot of glamping in North Yorkshire. Here is what this particular pod in the Newburgh woods does that most of it does not.
Your own wood-fired hot tub, not a shared one
The Ofuro is a two-person Japanese-style tub on your own decking, heated by a fire you light. No booking a slot, no sharing with the next cabin, no chlorine smell. If you would rather it was ready when you arrive, the hosts offer that as an optional extra.
Off-grid that has actually been thought about
No mains electricity and no internet, which sounds like a compromise until you see what replaces them: portable power banks for phones, a cool box for food, a wood burner for heat and a fire pit with a grill and a hanging kettle for cooking. Guests keep singling this kit out, which is not what usually happens with off-grid stays.
Genuinely private, not just quiet
Sugi sits on its own in broadleaf woodland on a private estate, 250 metres from the nearest car. There is no shared block, no reception and no passing traffic. Guests reach for the word secluded again and again, and in this case it is accurate rather than marketing.
A heritage cluster most people drive straight past
You are on the Newburgh Priory Estate, a Grade I country house with a lake, walled garden and topiary. Coxwold and Laurence Sterne's Shandy Hall are a short walk from the gate, and Byland Abbey, whose rose window influenced York Minster, is a few miles on. Very few glamping sites come with that on the doorstep.
Check Availability at Sugi Wooden Pod
- No booking fees
- Free cancellation on selected rates
- Free on-site parking
Interesting Points About Sugi Wooden Pod
- The private shower and toilet sit roughly 20 metres from the pod rather than inside it, so a night-time trip means stepping outside
- The car park is about 250 metres from the pod across woodland ground, which is a real consideration for luggage and for anyone with limited mobility
- The site is electricity-free by design, and the hosts supply portable power banks and a cool box instead of sockets and a fridge
- Weddings run on the neighbouring Newburgh Estate and the hosts warn that music can carry until midnight on Saturdays
- The listing's room table files the unit as a Tent; it is in fact a hand-built timber pod on a raised platform with a wood-burning stove, which is how the operator's own site describes it
Rooms & Accommodation at Sugi Wooden Pod
The Wooden Pod
1 king-size bed · Sleeps 2 · Private washroom about 20 m away · Wood burner
One unit, one bed, and the decision is really whether the format suits you rather than which room to pick. Inside is a king-size bed under a hand-built timber apex, with a wood burner for the evening and a round window framing the trees that guests mention more than any other single detail. Choose it if the idea of a small, warm, dark, quiet room in a wood is the holiday. Think twice if you need a bathroom you can reach in bare feet, because the private shower and toilet are a separate building about twenty metres away and the path is genuinely dark at night.
Check PricesIs Sugi Wooden Pod Right for You?
Best Suited For
- Couples who want a night properly off-grid, with a private wood-fired hot tub and a wood burner rather than a television
- Solo travellers after somewhere quiet and safe-feeling, which is exactly what recent solo guests describe
- Dog owners, because up to two well-behaved dogs can come along on leads
- Walkers and cyclists using the Howardian Hills, Coxwold and the southern edge of the North York Moors
- Anyone treating York as a day trip rather than a doorstep, given it is about half an hour's drive away
Worth Considering Alternatives If
- You need a bathroom inside your room. Sugi's private shower and toilet are a separate building roughly 20 metres away, and the walk there is unlit
- You cannot manage 250 metres over woodland ground with luggage. There is no vehicle access to the pod itself and no documented step-free route
- You need mains power or internet. The site is electricity-free by design and no internet access is provided, so download anything you need before you arrive
- You are travelling with children. The operator's own site describes family arrangements, but the booking channel's rules say children are not accommodated, so check the policy shown for your dates before you commit
- You want a quiet Saturday night guaranteed. Weddings run on the neighbouring estate and music can carry until midnight
What Sugi Wooden Pod Offers
In the pod
- King-size bed with linen and towels provided
- Wood-burning stove
- Round porthole window onto the woodland
- Not available: Mains electricity
- Not available: Internet access
- Not available: Television
Outside your door
- Private two-person wood-fired Ofuro hot tub
- Private raised timber decking with outdoor furniture
- Fire pit with grill and hanging kettle
- Views across the Newburgh estate grounds
Washing and cooking
- Private shower and toilet, about 20 m from the pod
- Kettle, crockery and cutlery
- Cool box available
- Portable power banks for charging
- Not available: Kitchen inside the pod
- Not available: Breakfast service
Practical
- Free private parking on site, no reservation needed
- Up to two dogs, kept on leads
- Hosts living nearby and reachable if needed
- Not available: Staffed reception
- Not available: Smoking
- Not available: Parties or events
Location and Getting There
Sugi sits in broadleaf woodland on the Newburgh Priory Estate, just outside the village of Coxwold in North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Howardian Hills. The postal address ends in York because YO61 is a York postcode, but the pod is about eighteen miles and roughly half an hour's drive north of the city. Anything describing this stay as a short walk from York's sights has the wrong place. The hosts' own address reads Newburgh, Coxwold, York, North Yorkshire, and Coxwold is the village to point a satnav at.
What is genuinely close is a tight cluster of heritage that most visitors to Yorkshire drive straight past. Newburgh Priory, the Grade I country house whose estate you are staying on, has a lake, walled garden, topiary and woodland walks, though it is a family home with a limited public season rather than an attraction you can wander into. Coxwold village holds Shandy Hall, where Laurence Sterne lived from 1760 to 1768, and The Fauconberg, the pub the hosts point guests towards. Byland Abbey, a major early-Gothic Cistercian ruin whose rose window influenced York Minster, is a few miles on, with free access to the grounds in daylight hours. North of all of it, the North York Moors begin.
One thing to plan for before you arrive: there is no vehicle access to the pod. Parking is free and on site, but it is about 250 metres away across woodland ground, so pack for carrying your bags that far. In poor weather the hosts recommend boots or wellingtons, and they are right.
- Newburgh Priory house and gardens: On the same estate, limited public season
- Coxwold village and The Fauconberg: The hosts describe it as within walking distance
- Shandy Hall, Coxwold: Laurence Sterne's home, seasonal opening
- Byland Abbey: A few miles, grounds free in daylight hours
- Easingwold: About 5 miles by the operator's own figure
- Thirsk: Nearest mainline station, roughly 15 to 20 min by car
- York: About 17.9 miles, roughly 27 min by road
- Howardian Hills National Landscape: You are on its edge
- North York Moors National Park: Begins just north of the estate
Getting to Key Locations
How to Get to Sugi Wooden Pod
- : Thirsk is the nearest mainline station. The hosts publish roughly a 15-minute drive from there, and a taxi from Thirsk to the site is described as taking around 20 minutes. Those are different endpoints rather than a contradiction, so allow 15 to 20 minutes and book the taxi ahead rather than expecting one to be waiting.
- : Leave Coxwold towards Yearsley and Malton. After about a mile, past the duck pond and Newburgh House, the road climbs a steep hill to a black metal Hinoki Retreat gate. That gate is the entrance. Set a satnav to YO61 4AS, but read these directions too, because the last stretch is not obvious.
- : About 17.9 miles and roughly 27 minutes by road to the estate. There is a public bus from York towards Newburgh Priory, with the scheduled vehicle portion taking around 44 minutes, but the service is limited enough that you should check the current timetable for your date rather than assume it runs.
- : There is no vehicle access to the pod itself. Park in the on-site car park and walk the final 250 metres through the woodland. Pack accordingly: one trip with the bags, boots in poor weather, and a torch if you are arriving near dusk.
- : If you come by bus to Coxwold, the hosts describe a 15-minute walk from the village to the site. That is their figure rather than a routed measurement, and it is on country roads, so plan it for daylight.
A Day in York: Vikings, Castles and Cathedrals
York is a day out from Sugi rather than its neighbourhood: the estate sits roughly eighteen miles north of the city, about half an hour by road. Treated that way it is one of the best day trips in England, and the drive back into the woods at the end of it is half the pleasure.
The city packs Roman foundations, a Viking layer you can walk into at JORVIK, medieval streets and a Gothic cathedral into a centre small enough to cross on foot. The walls form a 3.4 km circuit that takes about two hours in full and cost nothing to walk. York Minster, Clifford's Tower, the National Railway Museum and the Shambles are all within or just outside that ring. The hosts at Hinoki point guests at much the same list.
Two practical notes if you drive in. The central footstreets normally close to motor traffic between 10:30 and 17:00 every day, and York's six Park and Ride sites are the sensible answer, with journeys of roughly 15 to 20 minutes into the centre. There is no luggage storage at York station, so do not build the day around lockers there.
Seven things to do across York, the nearest major destination to the pod.
Is Sugi Wooden Pod worth it?
Yes, if being off-grid is the point rather than the price you pay. A cedar pod alone in the woods, a king-size bed under a timber apex, and your own wood-fired Japanese hot tub on the deck. Two things to be sure about first: the shower and toilet are a separate building twenty metres away down an unlit path, and the car park is 250 metres off through the trees. And it is near Coxwold, not in York.
What Guests Say About Sugi Wooden Pod
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Exceptional
Two themes carry almost every recent review. The first is how quiet and private it is, which guests describe again and again without prompting. The second is how well the off-grid side has been worked out: the power banks, the cool box, the hot tub and the bed come up constantly, and several guests say they expected to be roughing it more than they were. The hosts get named a lot too, usually for answering quickly. The one recurring criticism is specific and physical rather than about service: the path between the pod and the washroom is dark, and more than one guest has asked for lighting there. The hosts say to bring a torch, and they mean it.
Came away feeling the whole stay had been carefully worked out, from the setting to the way the site is organised and equipped, and left wanting to book again.
Conor
Came away feeling the whole stay had been carefully worked out, from the setting to the way the site is organised and equipped, and left wanting to book again.
2026-08-15Found the pod spotless and genuinely relaxing, with a strong shower, a comfortable bed and a view worth sitting with. The charging banks and cooler struck her as thoughtful touches. Her one suggestion was better lighting on the way to the toilet at night.
2026-08-11Rated the privacy, the scenery and the hot tub above everything else, and was touched to find birthday decorations put up ready for her arrival.
2026-07-21Picked out the privacy, the hot tub and the thought behind the facilities as the three things that made the stay work.
2026-06-09Loved how simple it was: a quiet spot in the woods, the hot tub, and the round window in the pod looking straight out into the trees.
2026-06-06Thought the experience was something out of the ordinary, while noting that the lack of light between the pod and the wash house was the one obvious thing to fix.
2025-11-13On a first solo trip, found the hosts' communication reassuring, the pod clean and the sleep good, and appreciated arriving to a hot tub already warm.
2025-10-25Described it as a hideaway in the woods and was especially warm about how quickly the hosts responded to anything she asked.
2025-10-13Good to Know Before You Book
Bring a torch, and mean it
The private shower and toilet sit about twenty metres from the pod in a separate building, and the path between them is unlit. The hosts recommend a torch for moving around after dark, and guest reviews independently name the lighting on that route as the one thing they would change. A head torch is better than a phone, because it leaves your hands free.
You are walking 250 metres from the car
Parking is free and on site, but there is no vehicle access to the pod. It is roughly 250 metres over woodland ground, so plan on one trip with the bags and pack boots or wellingtons in poor weather. The hosts are upfront that the terrain will not suit everyone, and there is no documented step-free route.
There is no electricity, on purpose
The site is electricity-free and no internet is provided. Portable power banks are available for phones and a cool box handles food, but download maps, tickets and booking confirmations before you arrive rather than expecting to look them up from the deck.
Saturday nights can carry music
The neighbouring Newburgh Estate holds weddings, and the hosts warn that music may be audible until midnight on Saturdays. If total silence is the reason you are booking, a midweek night is the safer choice.
Dogs yes, children unclear
Up to two well-behaved dogs are welcome, kept on leads because of livestock nearby, and a pet charge applies. Children are less straightforward: the operator's own site describes family arrangements, but the booking channel's rules say children are not accommodated. Check the policy shown for your dates before booking rather than assuming either version applies.
Photos of Sugi Wooden Pod
Sugi Wooden Pod: Common Questions
No, and this is the single most misunderstood thing about it. The postal address ends in York because YO61 is a York postcode, but the pod is on the Newburgh Priory Estate just outside Coxwold, about 17.9 miles and roughly 27 minutes' drive north of the city. Any listing describing it as near York's sights is wrong. York is an excellent day trip from here, not the view from the deck.
No. The shower and toilet are private to your stay but sit in a separate building roughly 20 metres from the pod, so a night-time trip means going outside. The path is unlit, which is why both the hosts and previous guests say to bring a torch.
About 250 metres, on foot, across woodland ground. Parking itself is free, on site and needs no reservation, but there is no vehicle access to the pod, so plan for carrying your luggage that distance. The hosts note the terrain will not suit every guest.
Neither. The site is electricity-free by design and no internet access is provided. Portable power banks can be supplied for phones and a cool box is available for food, so download anything you need before you arrive.
It is a private two-person Japanese-style Ofuro, wood-fired, on your own decking. You light the fire and bring the water up to temperature yourself, which takes a while. If you would rather it was ready when you arrive, the hosts offer that as an optional paid extra.
Yes, up to two well-behaved dogs, kept on leads because there is livestock nearby. A pet charge applies, and the amount shown can differ between booking channels, so check what is attached to your specific booking.
The sources disagree, so check before booking. The operator's own site describes arrangements for a baby and children on futons, while the booking channel's house rules say children are not accommodated and that cots and extra beds are unavailable. Go by the policy shown for your dates.
Almost never, with one exception the hosts are upfront about: the neighbouring Newburgh Estate hosts weddings and has a music licence until midnight on Saturdays, so music can carry. Guests otherwise describe the site as exceptionally quiet.
Arrivals start at 16:00 and rooms are given up by 10:00 the following morning. The hosts ask guests to say roughly when to expect them, which matters more here than at a hotel because nobody is manning a desk.
No. The room table on the listing files it as a Tent, but that is a category artefact rather than a description. Sugi is a hand-built timber pod on a raised platform with a wood-burning stove inside, and the operator's own site describes it the same way.
Cancellation terms vary by rate, and the exact policy for your dates shows before you confirm. The listing's fine print also sets out a limited post-stay damage liability, so read what is attached to your booking rather than assuming a single policy applies to every rate.
There is no breakfast service and no kitchen inside the pod. What you get is a kettle, crockery and cutlery, a cool box and a fire pit with a grill for cooking outside, so bring what you want to cook. For eating out, The Fauconberg in Coxwold is the pub the hosts point guests towards, and they recommend booking ahead. The tea room at Newburgh Priory only runs alongside the house's public opening.
Other Stays in Yorkshire
Midway Guest House, York
If you want to be in York itself rather than half an hour north of it, this Fulford Road guest house has free parking and a riverside walk into the centre.
Micklegate House, Selby
A market-town base south of York, for a trip built around driving to several Yorkshire towns rather than settling in one wood.
Silver Street Suites, Whitby
For the coast instead of the woods: self-contained suites in the middle of Whitby, on the far side of the North York Moors.
Light the Fire, Then Get In
A cedar pod alone in the woods, a king-size bed under a timber apex, and a wood-fired Japanese hot tub on your own deck. Check your dates now.
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