Hi Pat

What part of the country do you live in? Just to give us an idea as you mention you don't want to travel for more than two hours.

Pippy

Oops!!sorry that would help,i live in Manchester.

Regards

Pat

In 2 hours from Manchester you could easily be in North Wales, the Peak District, The Lake District or Yorkshire Dales. Try something like http://www.country-holidays.co.uk , Blakes, Hoseasons or the tourist board for the area you fancy. Hope you find somewhere nice.

you may be better off to first decide on an area then check out the accomdodation on the tourist board websites for cottages advertising privately- they are usually cheaper that way and most have their own websites where you can take a look inside . My motto is "if i cant see what the inside looks like I aint interested!!!" if you dont mind trailing through pages of cottages have a look at http://www.cottages4you.co.uk whom i think are part of english country cottages but they have a lot more and many seem to be quite reasonable. if you have more of a budget to blow http://www.premiercottages.co.uk have some lovely ones which are all booked privately- mostly with a few extra facilities like swimming pool, games room if you are taking children. we have used them a couple of times but you probably wont find anything in there still available for christmas - most of them are fully booked for August next year!! .

lyn

pat - sorry forgot to mention - my hubby smokes and it is getting increasingly difficult to find a cottage that doesnt state "non smokers only" . so he now accepts this is the norm and just stands outside or next to the door - he still has the odd one inside too and there isnt really anybody to check . as a non smoker myself i know that isnt right it just depents on how much it would worry you.

lyn

Try http://www.Hengaeau-farm.co.uk
It`s a lovely little cottage on a working farm in N.Wales. It`s at a little village called Llanfair, not far from Harlech. The village is by the sea but the farm is about a mile inland. Not sure about the non-smoking bit,as we didn`t smoke anyway. The lady in charge of renting the cottage is the farmer`s wife, Mrs. Thomas, a really nice lady. If you`re lucky you`ll get the odd sheep peering through the patio doors at you!

Sorry, just checked the website and it states no smoking.

Hi Pat,

I think you'll find it quite difficult to find one that isn't 'no-smoking'. It's very dificult to get rid of the smell from furnishings etc and results in so many complaints from non-smokers that I think most letting owners have decided that it's more trouble than it's worth. It might be worth approaching this with a bit of lateral thinking - the same issue arises with pets so it might be an idea to base your search on whether they accept pets or not because in my experience they're the ones who are more likely to allow smoking too.

I regularly book self-catering cottages for myself, a friend and my parents - friend and father smoke and over the years have just accepted that if we want a nice cottage it's invariably going to be non-smoking and so we look for somewhere that has a nice sitting outside area and if possible a patio/space heater!

You don't say how many of you there are but I find that the local tourist board is usually the best starting point - if nothing else it gives you a good idea of what the going rate is for a particular area and what sort of facilities you can expect for a particular price band.

SM

Many thanks for all your help and advice,i'm still checking a couple more out and hopefully have something booked by weekend.

Regards

Pat

Ive recently trawled for New Year breaks knowing that its late - and not found much that isnt well booked for Xmas /NY. Another thing is price. You dont give a party size, but £400 doesnt buy much at this period.

Hi all,
I've finally booked our cottage Its a detached cottage in a small village called Nettleham,Lincolnshire.We weregoing to go for somewhere more remote but after looking into this place decided to book,and for 280 quid for me hubby and our 2 children its a bargain!!

Glad you found somewhere patbo..it is a good price!

Yeah it's a great price,i'm beginning to wonder why it's a lot cheaper than all the others we looked at.Still its gotta be a lot better than where we're living!
I did check out prices for Benidorm and they were excellent,worked out at 168 quid each on a DIY leaving on the 20 December,but we're on a really tight budget at the moment.Nevermind i'm looking forward to a week away with my family in a cosy cottage.

Pat

You cant beat it..weve had a few good New Year cottages now - a few beers, good food, and a good laugh.