Wedmore Premier

The Wedmore Premier is the largest of the Premier lodges at Cheddar Woods, and you feel it from the doorway. The open-plan living area stretches wide, with a dining table that seats eight properly and a modern kitchen running along one side. Fridge/freezer, washer/dryer, dishwasher, and a wine cooler tucked below the counter. The kitchen is well-stocked enough to cook for a full house all week. On the evenings you'd rather not bother, the Bistro down the hill handles dinner, and from spring through late summer, a wood-fired pizza oven fires up on the terrace.

Two king-size bedrooms each have their own en suite shower room, which gives two couples their own space and a quiet morning routine. Two further twin bedrooms share a family bathroom with a bath and overhead shower, and these naturally become the kids' wing. Three bathrooms for eight people is a ratio you only truly appreciate once you've tried a group holiday without it. Bedroom storage runs light on drawer space, so you'll likely live out of a suitcase for the week. It's the one trade-off in a lodge that gets everything else right.

Patio doors swing open from the living area onto a broad deck. The hot tub sits out here, and on a still evening high on the Mendip hillside, with the last warmth of the day fading over Somerset, it's where everyone gravitates. During the day, the deck works as an outdoor living room, enough space for chairs and a table without anyone tripping over anyone else.

Cheddar Woods keeps the days full without needing the car. The pool complex has a main lane pool and a shallow children's section, with a sauna and steam room alongside. The Eden Spa runs Aromatherapy Associates treatments if you want proper pampering; book early, as the diary fills weeks out. A climbing wall, adventure playground, and Go Active sessions handle the younger ones, and between them, the kids come back ready for bed. Premier check-in opens at 2 pm, which gives you a two-hour head start on the rest of the park.

The Gorge is right at the foot of the resort. The cliff-top path runs along the rim with the caves opening up below, and together they fill a solid day. Cheddar village has been turning out cheese since the 12th century, and the Bath Arms Inn is where you stop between walks. Wookey Hole and its caves are 8 miles, the coast at Brean Down is 13, and Glastonbury Tor is 15 miles, with a walk to the summit that opens up the whole of Somerset below. Wells Cathedral is worth the detour, and Bath is close enough at 25 miles for the Roman Baths and an afternoon wandering the crescents.

Evenings write themselves here. Dinner for eight around that big table, a bottle from the wine cooler, and then everyone out on the deck while the hot tub does the rest.