We feel very honored that many of our guests choose to celebrate special milestones at our rural Somerset cottages including their honeymoon, minimoon, anniversary or birthday. If you’ve got something special to celebrate in 2023 and a luxurious, relaxing self-catering holiday in the Quantock Hills with your fur babies sounds like bliss (or if you’re already booked in to stay with us), then this blog is for you. From our years of experience, we have gathered our very top tips to help your celebration at Quantock Cottages be one to remember in 2023.
1. Enjoy all that our luxury cottages have to offer
We thought we’d start off by listing all the things that our cottages have to offer to make your holiday and celebration unforgettable. If you haven’t stayed with us before, Quantock Cottages are three self-catering, truly dog friendly cottages in the magnificent Quantock Hills in Somerset. Each luxury cottage is unique, yet they all have a modern country house feel, a wood burning fire and beautiful sea views. Every cottage can sleep up to four guests in two bedrooms and up to three dogs (with more possible on request) and very importantly any breed of dog is welcome. You will find everything you need to have the perfect stress free self-catering holiday and can expect the same level of comfort that you would of a 5* boutique hotel.
In our cottages you will find a gorgeous living and dining area, beautiful bedrooms, a luxurious bathroom and a stunning kitchen, kitted out with everything you could possibly need to have the ultimate self-catering holiday. Outside is a private, enclosed garden with outside bar, fire pit, lovely views and best of all you can relax and unwind in your very own private Bali inspired, covered hot tub.
We think that one of the best things about celebrating at our Somerset cottages is that you get to bring your beloved dogs along with you. Our canine guests are welcomed with treats, they have their own feeding/drinking station, there’s a Doggie Spa at the front of every cottage and we have three enclosed dog zones on site, so you can relax knowing they are playing safely.
2. Explore the local area
At our cottages you can walk right out of your private, enclosed garden straight on to 9,000 acres of open moorland. If you are celebrating, we think having the stunning Quantock Hills (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in your back garden is something very special. There’s so much to explore from admiring the exposed limestone along the coast, to the colourful purple heather on the heathland and spotting wildlife such as butterflies and birds (and if you’re very lucky, red deer). Then there’s the combe – the ancient wooded valleys of the Quantock Hills with its magical woodland trails.
Another beautiful place to explore close to our luxury cottages is the Great Wood at Over Stowey which is the perfect place to cycle or take a walk with the dogs. It’s fantastic for wildlife watching and there’s a lovely area to stop and have a picnic.
If you are more of a beach person, there’s some great beaches nearby, including the dog friendly Kilve Beach, which is in the heart of the Quantocks and like the Quantock Hills and is an area of Special Scientific Interest. Also nearby is Dunster Beach and Blue Anchor Bay both of which are great for long walks while taking in the beautiful coastline views.
A fantastic way to experience 20 miles of the Somerset countryside is to get unlimited day travel pass on West Somerset Railway’s dog friendly vintage steam train. We also think it’s the perfect way to celebrate as you can book different food experiences such as tea/coffee and cake, cream tea and fish and chips and there’s also a bar on board. The train stops at Dunster Beach and Blue Anchor Bay, so it’s a great way to explore both beaches and you could have a nice glass of bubbly on the train to celebrate.
3. Book an in cottage spa treatment or visit a local spa
Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, honeymoon or anniversary in 2023, a luxury spa treatment will be the perfect indulgent treat. When our guests book to stay at Quantock Cottages we provide a list of added ‘treats’ and details of how they can book. One of our favorite's is holistic massage and beauty treatments in the comfort of their own luxury holiday cottage - what better way is there to celebrate a special occasion? A spa day is also a fantastic way to celebrate and we have some lovely spas nearby, including Alak Health and Beauty Spa in Bridgewater, Buff Urban Day Spa in Taunton and The Cleve in Wellington.
4. Plan a special meal out or in
We have some lovely local restaurants and pubs in the Quantocks, perfect for celebrating a special occasion. Here are some of our favourites:
Reeves Restaurant in Dunster. Their award winning, fine dining restaurant offers really beautiful food. The restaurant itself is very inviting and the service is fantastic
Combe House Hotel & Restaurant in the Quantock Hills. This place serves delicious homemade food with ingredients sourced from local suppliers. They also do a lovely two or three course Sunday and they have some fabulous local ciders
The Babbling Brook in the Quantock Hills. This pub is only a 12 minute drive away from our cottages and if you fancy somewhere special to enjoy a Sunday lunch then this place does a fantastic carvery. The kitchen prides itself on making pretty much everything from scratch and their award winning carvery is reasonably priced. If you fancy a cosy Sunday carvery in the comfort of your holiday cottage then they also offer a take away Sunday lunch
The Hood Arms is literally at the bottom of the lane from our luxury cottages and not only do we visit regularly, but this pub is very popular with our returning guests. It’s an historic 17th Century coaching inn that’s very dog friendly and it serves great food, real ales and has a pretty beer garden.
If you fancy celebrating in the comfort of your luxurious cottage why not have some yummy food delivered straight to your door? Included in our added ‘treats’ list is Pyne's Of Somerset, a traditional farm shop that can deliver food to you. If you’re celebrating a honeymoon, anniversary or birthday then some fresh lobster or steak from Somerset Farm House would be absolutely delicious, or if prepared home cooked food that you simply pop in the oven sounds good then Yellow Door Cottage will be perfect for your celebration.
5. Book a private chef experience
We can’t imagine a better celebratory treat than a private chef experience. Just picture a private chef coming to your beautiful cottage in the Quantock Hills and cooking for you and serving you incredible food while you and your loved ones relax and enjoy the celebration. And the best bit - you won’t have to do any washing up, it’s all included in the experience. We are very pleased to offer our guests a 10% discount for the Dineindulge private chef experience if you book with them for your stay at our holiday cottages.
We hope you love these tips and if you have a specific date in mind for your 2023 celebration don’t forget to book soon to avoid missing out. You can view our 2023 availability here. We can’t wait to host you and to help you have a celebration to remember.
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