DND Mode, But Make It a Lifestyle – 72 Hours at Unplugged

April 21, 2026
Design & Travel
Words:
Beanie Stolper

Offline looks good on you so let’s all go off-grid! I needed out of London, totally, properly out. So I went to Unplugged and did the full sweep: goodbye IG, adiós Gmail, see you later TikTok, just get me out of there. No alarm, no timer, no maps, no Apple Pay. Just birds, a radio, and ridiculously amazing. I went all in (no car as well), because anything less felt like pretending. Hector Hughes, co-founder, calls it a reset against our dopamine-looped lives, always consuming, reaching, looking but never really stopping, observing and truly thinking. And he’s right: we’re all addicted to micro-gratification, it’s basically the default setting now. But once you drop out of it, even briefly, everything shifts. London falls out of your body (I never thought I would ever say that or even need it). Time softens. Thoughts come back unfiltered. And you start to wonder if the real luxury isn’t travel, but repetition, making space to disappear regularly, not occasionally. It is not only just the chicest thing you can do, but possibly the most necessary: 72 hours gone, and somehow feeling more you when you return.

Beanie Stolper: Tell me about the beginning. You both came from tech, was Unplugged always meant to become something this expansive, or did it unfold more instinctively?
 Hector Hughes: I’d love to tell you there was some grand plan, but really we just thought Unplugged was missing in the world and that we should do something about it. From there it was really just about getting a cabin up and running, and seeing if we could actually get people to spend three days offline. It’s grown and evolved in so many wonderful and surprising ways since.

 

BS: It’s kind of wild that the original question, “why you had to go halfway across the world to really switch off” still hits. Now the cabins are closer to home, but somehow switching off still costs money. Do you ever think about bringing back that intimate, hands-on energy from the early days?
HH: Yes, for sure. It’s the big question; how to keep growing Unplugged to reach as many people as possible whilst keeping (and adding to) the magic of the experience. We’re very focused internally on how we can weave more and more magic through the experience to give the best experience and inspire the greatest possible change in the world.

 

BS: There’s an irony in having to make digital detoxing feel accessible in the first place, did you ever have to grapple with that?
HH: It’s remarkable that a business like this is necessary, isn’t it! The luck we’ve always had on our side is a deep conviction that it is indeed needed, and digital detoxing isn’t currently easy in our ‘everyday life’. So however ludicrous it might seem, it’s always been clear to us that there was a gap to be filled. We’ve spent no time at all worrying whether this is the right thing to be doing, we’re sure it is, so it’s been easy to just get on with doing it.
BS: Desire feels like such a driving force right now, especially in tech, where we’re constantly pulled towards more. Through Unplugged, how do you think about desire today: the urge to escape, to slow down, to reconnect?
HH: We live such an out-of-balance life in this day and age that it’s little surprise such strong forces pull in both directions. Our desires are built to fulfill our basic human instincts: for safety, food, a mate, or simple survival. Biologically we’re designed for times of scarcity, we evolved as hunter gatherers and those desires kept us alive. Now, we live in times of abundance. It sends our desires haywire: for stimulation, for novelty, for consumption. The result is we consume far more than is good for us; draining our dopamine reserves. It’s unsurprising, then, that our bodies and minds seek reprieve and pull us towards a slower, more grounded way of life. It’s the body’s wisdom at work.

 

BS: Your marketing is extremely considered very polished, very online and social-first. I was completely pulled in by it. How do you reconcile building that kind of digital allure around something that’s ultimately about stepping away from it?
HH: We completely get the irony of marketing our cabins on the very devices we’re encouraging people to step away from, but what matters is the end result. We want to help people unplug and live a happier healthy life. Social media is the best way to amplify that message and achieve our goal. We’re reaching the people who really need a nudge at the source. We’re very conscious of not contributing to the ‘brain rot’ online these days, and try to encourage more people to live slower, take time offline and ultimately make the algorithm a more positive place.

 

BS: For me, the real shift came from going all in; no car, phone properly away, not even using it as an alarm, timer or to check the time. Is that the sweet spot, or do you see Unplugged as more of a choose-your-own rhythm?

 

HH: Yes, definitely. Going all-in on a digital detox is how you actually reset and reap all the benefits of time offline. By removing tech entirely, your nervous system calms down, you have no temptation to ‘just check’ and you switch off properly. We connect our devices to so many stress-related things that even just seeing them can trigger an internal response. But someone might not feel ready for that yet. Our detoxes are self-policed so you can use your phone if you need to, and some people prefer a more gradual approach, perhaps checking it a couple of times; but we highly recommend committing to it properly to shift your perspective and begin rewiring your relationship with your phone.

 

 

BS: I came back feeling amazing, but it was honestly shocking how quickly you slip back into everything. Is that something you think about; the after-effect, not just the escape?
HH: Yes, one big change after the stay is the awareness of how online we are after the stay; you’ll be aware of how addicted you are to devices. But this is important; that shift in perspective is what helps set you out on a more positive path. It’s what happens in the months and years after that’s important. We want people, over time, to move to a healthier, more unplugged way of living. We do also give our guests tips on how to ease back into the real world – such as turning off notifications, setting downtime hours and using DND mode – and we’re looking into how we can build this out further with at-home items.

 

BS: I’ve followed Unplugged for a while and always notice the call-outs for testers. How much does that feedback loop shape what you do? Is it quite instinctive, or very intentional?
HH: Our experience is our product, and we obsess over making it as good as it can be. We are always looking for ways to improve and our cabin testers are an integral cog in that. Not only do these guests help us identify any ‘operational’ improvements, they help us build the experience from a customer perspective. We read and reply to every bit of feedback we get and action it as quickly as possible. This year we’re even looking to invite some of our guests to a meetup so they can give us as many thoughts as possible to keep improving and curating our experience. We built Unplugged for our guests, so they should be able to help shape how the cabins and detoxes look for years to come.
BS: For me, the real shift came from going all in; no car, phone properly away, not even using it as an alarm, timer or to check the time. Is that the sweet spot, or do you see Unplugged as more of a choose-your-own rhythm?
HH: Yes, definitely. Going all-in on a digital detox is how you actually reset and reap all the benefits of time offline. By removing tech entirely, your nervous system calms down, you have no temptation to ‘just check’ and you switch off properly. We connect our devices to so many stress-related things that even just seeing them can trigger an internal response. But someone might not feel ready for that yet. Our detoxes are self-policed so you can use your phone if you need to, and some people prefer a more gradual approach, perhaps checking it a couple of times; but we highly recommend committing to it properly to shift your perspective and begin rewiring your relationship with your phone.
BS: There are so many cabins now. I stayed in Stanley; close enough to London, remote enough to feel like nowhere, and near a pub (non-negotiable). What’s your idea of the perfect cabin and if you had to pick one which one would it be?
HH: It really depends; it’s such a different experience solo vs with a partner, winter vs summer, spring vs autumn. Not to mention at different points in one’s life. So personally I’ll mix it up. Sometimes I want to go as remote as possible, to walk for hours and hours and barely see anyone (Bear and Seren, two new cabins in Wales, are great for that). Other times somewhere with great local pubs and interesting things nearby is more the flavour (Barclay and Wilfred, in Somerset, have a wonderful seaside village with a sauna just a short walk away).


 

BS: Food and meals were totally central to the experience; we came prepared and it really delivered. What’s your ideal Unplugged day of eating; breakfast, lunch and dinner?
HH: Great question; I do love to get a pub meal in for one of them, usually lunch. It’s amazing how you’re never that far from a good pub in the British countryside. I love some sort of a cooked, healthy breakfast: beans (shoutout to Bold Bean Co.), halloumi, mushrooms, etc. Then something hearty in the evening after a long day’s walking; perhaps a stew or a coconut curry. We’re working on a foodie cabin launching this summer which will be an experience curated around food, for those who really want to take their cabin cooking to the next level.
BS: Tech isn’t slowing down anytime soon. How do you see the idea of a “digital detox” evolving over the next few years? Does Unplugged evolve with it?
HH: I see it becoming increasingly normal, to return to a fresh and healthy mind, get perspective on one’s life, and to prioritise our romantic relationships. We already see people staying 2-3 times a year for this reason. Doing this once works wonders, but making it a habit is what leads to lasting change and a better life. But yes, Unplugged will continue to evolve. The truth is we have no idea what the future holds, no one does, so we’ll continue to stay humble and keep learning what we need to be to best serve society.

 

BS: Since coming back, I’ve noticed how many similar concepts are out there. How do you keep Unplugged feeling like its own thing?

 

HH: The simple answer to this is we just keep focused on making the change we want to make in the world and don’t worry too much about the noise. It’s always interesting, and valuable, to see what’s going on elsewhere and what we can learn from, but the most important thing is to focus on being authentically us. Anyone can copy some marketing material or an Instagram post but it’s much harder to copy an ethos and a deep conviction. The more we focus on just being us the more unique we become.

 

BS: I’d go back instantly and have been raving about it! Have you thought about positioning it less as a one-off escape and more as something you dip into regularly; like a necessary ritual you come back to.
HH: Definitely! It’s the big thing for us going forward. We’ve done a good job of making it almost a status thing to go and do an Unplugged stay – the cool thing to do. Now it’s about evolving that messaging to really highlight the magic of making this a regular thing. We’re on the right side of history and new science supporting this is coming out all the time. 
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