This Tiny House Experience Promises Scandinavian Vibes — No Passport Required

Have you seen or heard of Mirrorcube? It’s a trendy Swedish glamping structure that’s been getting media attention for years, and, yes, I’ve wanted to go since I first read about it. So when I started seeing ads for Getaway’s tiny-house “outposts,” I had to do a doubletake. Were these minimalist Mirrorcube-esque cabins somewhere in Scandinavia? Or somewhere within driving distance of home?

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Meet Getaway: Tiny House Rentals, Simplified

Getaway is a newish U.S. company (founded in 2015) that boasts “collections of tiny cabins in rustic locations within a two-hour drive of major cities.” My family was invited to stay at one of Getaway’s newest outposts, Getaway St. Francois, which is conveniently less than 2 hours from our home in the St. Louis suburbs.

Note that Getaway St. Francois is not in Missouri’s St. Francois State Park. Because they’re somewhat near to one another and have the same name, this confused me at first. I thought Getaway was operating its outpost as a vendor in the park. Not so. They are 15 miles, a ~20-minute drive, apart, meaning you will not be walking out of your cabin to any of the state park trails or other attractions.

A Welcome Airbnb Alternative

All Getaway bookings are through their site, and options are streamlined. Pick your outpost and you have your choice of two tiny house layouts: one queen bed or two queen bunk beds.

All the other amenities are the same across cabins and outposts, which means no poring over options. Knowing staff are on-site and that all cabins are subject to the same housekeeping and maintenance routines is also a welcome alternative to the realities of opting for a private vacation rental.

Once you’ve booked, you’ll get emails leading up to your stay and text support for the duration of your reservation, from morning of to a check-out reminder.

150 Square Feet Of Glamping Perfection

Getaway offers a minimalist experience. The most iconic feature in their tiny house cabins is the big window, typically overlooking a sprawling wooded expanse. This feature is best enjoyed in the single queen bed units, where there’s no loft to obstruct the view.

these are the other things I liked best…

Pressure Relief Mattresses & Luxurious Bedding

I was blown away by how comfortable the bed and bedding were in our cabin. It was essentially the most comfortable sleeping situation I’ve experienced away from home ever.

Getaway partners with Zinus to supply Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress beds to all of its outposts, and they’re topped with crisp white Down Etc comforters. There were also so many pillows and more than enough extra blankets to keep us cozy during our winter stay.

Almost Perfect Kitchen

The super cute tiny house kitchen includes what Getaway describes as “basic kitchen wares.” I especially loved the enamel tabelware.

We found all the utensils we needed and used the pots, pans, and kettle on the two-burner electric stove. Note that there is a small fridge but no microwave, toaster, or oven.

Plan Ahead For Coffee

I was disappointed that there wasn’t a French press or other simple coffeemaking option in the cabin. I brought ground coffee in hopes of making a straightforward cup of joe. Instead, I found what felt like an overly complicated single-serve pour-over packet in the Getaway Provisions basket, which I would have had to pay for (a la hotel minibar).

Pro Tip: If you’re not into pour-over and don’t want to pay extra, pack a simple, single-serve coffee option. Four Sigmatic instant packets are my current favorite. Fellow staffers also suggested steep coffee options from Grounds & Hounds and Nostalgia Coffee Roasters as good alternatives.

Consider Bottled Water

Our family doesn’t buy bottled water, so we didn’t have any with us when we arrived at our outpost. It wasn’t clear whether we were intended to drink water from the kitchen sink, but there wasn’t any bottled water or a water dispenser, so we went for it.

Fire Pit Perfection

Getaway keeps it simple with four Adirondack chairs, a picnic table, and a firepit outside each tiny house. There’s also a box with local firewood for purchase. We brought our own and built a beautiful fire using one of my favorite products: Pull Start Fire.

After some fireside journaling while baby napped, we grilled hot dogs for dinner then enjoyed s’mores before sitting in our Adirondack chairs looking off into the darkness. We’d planned our trip around the new moon so we could see the stars, but cloud cover prevented that. Instead, we heard a couple of owls hooting through the night — the highlight of the trip for baby.

Note that the quiet is best enjoyed outdoors as the cabins’ heating and cooling units can get quite noisy, and they need to run often to keep the units warm in the winter.

Is Getaway Kid-Friendly?

While our toddler enjoyed our Getaway stay, the cabins and grounds are clearly designed with adult guests in mind. We opted for a two-bed cabin thinking we might need the extra mattress space, and I wished we’d gotten a one-bed unit because we definitely would’ve had better views from inside.

Outside, there aren’t any play areas, and the individual lots are essentially outcroppings that have significant dropoffs into the surrounding woodland (this is part of how Getaway ensures all the cabins have gorgeous nature views). Because of this, we had to be holding or within an arm’s reach of our little one any time we were all outside the cabin.