Garden View

Five chickens wander the front lawn at Garden View. Nobody warns you about them, so the first morning is always a double-take through the bedroom curtains. It is a small thing, but it tells you exactly what kind of place this is: a proper old Somerset cottage, not a holiday park unit, where the garden is full of flowers and the ceiling beams are low enough that taller visitors learn to duck by day two.

The cottage is the ground floor of a 16th-century thatched house on the outskirts of Wellington. Fred and Margo, the owners, live upstairs, though the place is fully soundproofed between the two levels. Fred is the type of host who checks in once to make sure the heating is right and then leaves you to it, unless you need something. If you forget your dog's tablets, he will have a local vet sorted within the hour, prescription and all. That kind of thing is hard to find on a booking site.

Two bedrooms sit on the ground floor. The king-size room has a zip-link bed that can split into twins if you need it, and the double bedroom comes with its own en-suite walk-in shower. A separate shower room serves the rest of the cottage, with a heated towel rail that earns its keep on cold mornings. The kitchen runs along one wall with a full electric oven and hob, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, and washing machine. It is a proper kitchen, not a kitchenette, so cooking a full dinner is easy enough.

The sitting room has an electric flame-effect fire and enough space to stretch out, with a TV and WiFi for quieter evenings. Oil central heating keeps the whole place warm through the winter months, and fuel and power are included.

Outside is where Garden View earns its name. The garden is well tended, with borders, a stretch of lawn, a gravelled seating area with garden furniture, and the hot tub. On a clear evening, the sky above Wellington is dark enough to see stars properly, and the only sound is whatever is rustling in the hedgerow. Mornings out here are just as good, with a cup of tea on the patio while the chickens do their rounds at the front of the house.

One well-behaved dog is welcome, and Fred and Margo also have stabling and turnout facilities if you happen to be travelling with a horse, which is genuinely unusual for a holiday cottage.

Off-road parking covers two cars. The nearest pub and shop are about 2.8 miles away at Chelston Heath, on the edge of Wellington town centre. Wellington itself has a small museum, a park with restored Edwardian landscaped gardens, and the Wellington Monument on the Blackdown Hills above town.

Cothay Manor and Gardens in Stawley, a Grade I listed medieval house from 1480, is a good afternoon trip, and Culmstock Beacon, an Elizabethan fire beacon now covered in bell-heather, gives wide views across the landscape in late summer. Taunton is a short drive north with its Tudor architecture, a 10th-century monastery, and every shop and restaurant you could need. The Quantock Hills and Blackdown Hills AONB are within easy reach for walking and riding, and the coast is about 20 miles in either direction if you want a beach day.

Bed linen and towels are included. No smoking. Do keep an eye on the low ceilings in places. It has stood since the 1500s, and it keeps its character.