Hartington

Hartington is a stone cottage surrounded by 10 acres of woodland on the Darwin Lake estate. The grounds include a 15-minute circular walking trail, and there's a 3-acre lake within the grounds itself. Parking for four cars is on site. The cottage has its own patio with garden furniture.

Inside, the ground floor contains an open-plan living space with a kitchen that has a microwave, fridge-freezer and washing machine-dryer, plus a separate dining area and living room with a DVD player. Upstairs and on the ground floor are four bedrooms: two with zip-and-link super king beds that convert to singles on request, one with two single beds, and one with a single bed. Three en-suite bathrooms serve the bedrooms—one is a wet room with shower, one has a cubicle shower, and one has a bath with shower over. The fourth bedroom shares a bathroom with the third. Electricity, bed linen, towels and wifi are included. The cottage is non-smoking and one well-behaved pet is welcome.

This works well for families, groups of friends or couples wanting space to spread out. The rural location means you're set up for walking and peaceful time outdoors, though there is a lake on the grounds that younger children will need supervising around.