Ashton Elegance Premier

Three bedrooms, a proper fireplace, and enough room for everyone to find their own corner. The Ashton Elegance Premier is one of the bigger lodges at Cheddar Woods Resort, and it earns that extra space in ways that matter. Inside, the open-plan space runs wide and sociable, with a sleek modern fireplace that becomes the centre of the room on cooler evenings. A dining table big enough for six, a kitchen with a dishwasher and washer/dryer, and patio doors that open straight onto a large deck with the hot tub. Even on a full-house weekend, nothing feels tight.

Two double bedrooms handle the adults. The master has an en suite shower room, so you get your own morning routine without the queue. The third bedroom has a single and a bunk bed, which makes it a natural fit for younger children. Between the main bedrooms, a generous bathroom has a freestanding bath and a separate shower. After a day walking the Gorge or chasing kids around the pool, that bath is the quiet reward at the end of it.

Out on the deck, the hot tub sits with the Mendip hillside behind you and open Somerset countryside ahead. The fireplace pulls you inside on a winter evening; the deck pulls you back outside as soon as the sun lingers. Both work. The kitchen is well stocked enough to cook properly for six, though the Bistro on-site handles dinner if you'd rather not, and a log-fired pizza oven runs outside from spring through late summer.

Cheddar Woods has a heated indoor pool and a separate children's pool, sauna, steam room, and the Eden Spa for treatments. Book spa slots early; they go quickly. Go Active sessions run through the day, and between the climbing wall and the playground, the bunk room crew come back tired. Check-in is from 2 pm, so you arrive two hours ahead of the rest of the park and get the hot tub running before dinner.

Cheddar village starts where the resort ends, and the cheesemaking tradition goes back to the 12th century. The Bath Arms Inn does a solid lunch, and Lion Rock Tearooms is the quieter stop. Cheddar Gorge is close enough for a morning start, with clifftop paths and the caves underneath filling a full day. Beyond that, Wookey Hole is about 8 miles, Brean Down stretches to the coast at 13, and Glastonbury Tor is 15 miles with a climb that repays every step. Wells has a Gothic cathedral that justifies the trip, and Bath is about 25 miles if you want the Roman baths and a proper afternoon in the city.

The fireplace and the hot tub are the bookends of every evening here. One to start with, one to finish on, and a well-stocked kitchen somewhere in between.