Cree Valley Lodges - Willow Lodge

Willow Lodge is a single-storey property on a sheep and dairy farm, a few miles from Creetown and Newton Stewart. Everything happens on the ground floor: a combined living and dining space with a 40-inch smart TV, a fully equipped kitchen with gas hob and electric oven, two bedrooms (one double, one twin), and two bathrooms. Heating, electricity, bed linen, towels and Wi-Fi are all included. You have the place to yourself, with private parking for two cars and sole use of an enclosed garden with patio, decked seating and BBQ.

The main draw is the private hot tub. Beyond the immediate garden, the lodge sits on the edge of Galloway Forest Park, where three hundred square miles of valleys, woodland and moorland open up for walking and cycling. The Creetown to Kirroughtree path runs close by. The forest is one of only four Dark Sky Parks in the western world, worth timing a visit around. Nearby Newton Stewart and Creetown have shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs. The farm offers stabling by prior arrangement if you bring a horse; dogs are welcome (to be kept on a lead in sheep country). No smoking inside.