• Home
  • Popular UK resorts
    • South West (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset) >
      • Cornwall >
        • 10 of the best Cornwall caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Cornwall holiday lodges
        • 5 best Newquay caravan holiday parks
      • Devon >
        • 10 of the best Devon caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Devon holiday lodges
        • 5 best Torquay and Paignton caravan holiday parks
      • Dorset & Somerset >
        • 10 of the best Dorset caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Weymouth caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Somerset caravan holiday parks
    • North (Lakes, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland) >
      • 5 best Blackpool caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Derbyshire and Peak District caravan holiday parks
      • 10 best Lake District caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Northumberland and County Durham caravan holiday parks
      • 10 of the best Yorkshire caravan holiday parks
    • South (Isle of Wight, Kent, Hampshire) >
      • 5 best Essex caravan holiday parks
      • 10 best Isle of Wight caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Kent caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best New Forest and Hampshire caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Sussex and Brighton caravan holiday parks
      • Bunn Leisure Holiday Park - West Sands, White Horse and Green Lawns
    • East (Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire) >
      • 5 best Great Yarmouth caravan holiday parks
      • 10 of the best Norfolk caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Skegness caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Suffolk caravan holiday parks
    • Scotland >
      • 10 best caravan holiday parks in Scotland
      • Haven Craig Tara or Seton Sands - which is best?
    • Wales >
      • 10 best caravan holiday parks in Wales
      • 5 best Haven caravan holiday parks in Wales
  • Popular park chains
    • 10 best Haven caravan holiday parks
    • 10 best Park Resorts caravan holiday parks
    • 3 best Pontins holiday parks
    • Which Center Parcs is the best in the UK?
    • 8 cheap alternatives to Center Parcs
    • Which Butlins is best? Minehead, Skegness or Bognor?
    • 3 Best Butlins Resorts
  • UK cities
    • North England >
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Leeds and York
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Liverpool
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Manchester, Stockport, Oldham and Bolton
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Newcastle and Sunderland
    • South and Midlands >
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Birmingham
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Bristol and Bath
      • 5 best caravan holiday parks near London
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Nottingham and Derby
    • Wales and Scotland >
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Cardiff and Swansea
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Edinburgh and Glasgow
  • By type
    • 10 cheap caravan holiday parks
    • 10 beachside caravan holiday parks
    • 10 dog friendly caravan holiday parks
    • 5 best adults and couples holiday park lodges
    • 5 best treehouse holidays
    • 10 best caravan holiday parks with fishing lakes
  • Theme parks
    • Disney theme parks >
      • Which Disney Resort is best - Disneyland Paris or Walt Disney World Florida?
      • Which is the best Disneyland Paris hotel?
      • 5 best Disneyland Paris Hotels
      • 5 best holiday parks near Disneyland Paris
    • UK theme parks >
      • Holiday parks near theme parks
      • 5 best holiday parks near Alton Towers and CBeebies Land
      • 5 best holiday parks near Legoland Windsor
      • 5 best holiday parks near Peppa Pig World
      • 3 best holiday parks near Thorpe Park theme park
  • Europe & World
    • Europe wide holiday parks >
      • Best Center Parcs Europe in France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium
      • Center Parcs Europe or Center Parks UK?
      • 10 best Eurocamp caravan holiday parks
      • Center Parcs Europe - the simple trick to save money on your booking
      • Which Neilson Beachclub Resort is Best?
      • 5 best Neilson Beachclubs
    • Belgium holiday parks >
      • Which is the best Center Parcs in Belgium?
    • France holiday parks >
      • 10 best France caravan holiday parks
      • Which Center Parcs in France is best?
      • 5 best Center Parcs in France
      • 5 best Brittany caravan holiday parks
    • Germany holiday parks >
      • Which Center Parcs is the best in Germany?
      • 5 best Landal Greenparks in Germany
      • 10 best Germany caravan holiday park resorts
    • Netherlands and Holland holiday parks >
      • 10 best Netherlands and Holland caravan holiday park resorts
      • Which is the best Center Parcs in Netherlands and Holland?
      • 10 best Landal Greenparks in Netherlands and Holland
      • 10 best Roompot holiday parks in Netherlands and Holland
    • Spain holiday parks >
      • 10 best Spain caravan holiday park resorts
    • Rest of the world >
      • Which is best - Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort, Beaches Negril Resort or Beaches Ochos Rios Resort?
      • 3 Best 'Beaches' Caribbean All-Inclusive Holiday Resorts
      • Which Sandals Beach Resort is Best?
      • 5 Best Sandals Caribbean All-Inclusive Beach Holiday Resorts
  • About
    • About Holiday Park Guru
    • Disclaimer
    • Offers
    • Blog
    • Privacy
Holiday Park Guru

Half term fun at Bath Mill Lodge Retreat in Somerset

12/6/2019

0 Comments

 
Somerset sometimes feels like the least popular member of the Westcountry family. Cornwall, Dorset and Devon have more impressive beaches in my opinion, and tend to attract bigger crowds.

However, I’m rather fond of Somerset, having spent much time in Minehead, Frome and Yeovil due to a combination of work, relatives and holidays.

It’s also a little easier for us to get to, coming from the Midlands. For example, if you’re travelling from Birmingham it will take two hours to get to Bath or five to reach Lands End.

I’m also a fan of a good deal, which was probably the biggest factor.
Bath Mill Lodge Retreat
Reception and restaurant at Bath Mill Lodge Retreat
After much searching, I found a four night mid week break at Bath Mill Lodge Retreat reduced to about £400 from about £600. That may not sound like a billy bargain, but this was May half term in a fairly posh lodge park and it was a four bedroom lodge which slept up to 8 people. We had a party of six, but if we’d filled it up with eight people it would have cost us about £12 per person, per night. I reckon that’s pretty good value, particularly as holiday parks in the Westcountry are often a bit pricier than those in the North of England and in Scotland.
Bedroom at Bath Mill Lodge Retreat. Image: Hoseasons
Bedroom and Bath Mill Lodge Retreat
The park is run by a company called Darwin Escapes which has about 20 lodge resorts across the UK. We’ve also stayed at their Cheddar Woods Lodge Resort and Spa, which gets similarly positive reviews from customers.

Our lodge was well equipped with TVs in every bedroom (perhaps a little over the top), a dishwasher (essential, in my opinion) and a washing machine amongst other things. The furniture and décor was modern and clean, and the whole thing was hard to fault.

Bath Mill Lodge Retreat is certainly more of a base than somewhere you could spend a lot of time during the day. There was a restaurant and a small gym, but it didn’t have a swimming pool or anything like that. If that’s what you after, Cheddar Woods Lodge Resort and Spa is a better option as it has all that plus a bowling alley and some sports activities. I reckon they could do with a small shop for milk and bread and perhaps a little library of books and games, but it wasn’t a long way to the local shops.

Towards the end of our holiday we did discover a big patch of green space over a river at the nearby stream which meant our children could run and up and down.

We were only there for three full days, so we had no trouble finding things to do. On a wet day we tried out Avon Valley Adventure Park which had a good-sized indoor play area with drop slides and things like pig racing outdoors. We also had a couple of animal related outings to Bath City Farm and Hope Nature Centre, both of which occupied a good chunk of time for very little cost (Bath City Farm was free whilst Hope Nature Centre was only about £3 each).

The only disappointment with Bath Mill Lodge Retreat was the restaurant, which served us undercooked chips and overcooked peas. The building itself is lovely, and it’s in a pleasant riverside spot, but the food was about as tasteless as Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen’s wardrobe contents.

Being British, we didn’t complain of course although we left some diplomatically worded comments on the end of holiday report card.

On our final night, with the children asleep and the wife and I both zonked, we dragged ourselves into Bath when we really would have rather gone to bed. Neither of us had visited Bath since we were teenagers and I was determined to have a quick look round when we were only 15 minutes away.
Pulteney Weir in Bath
One of Bath's most famous views
We wandered the streets at a great pace, admiring one of Britain’s great cities. It was a bit of a dreary evening, but Bath was even nicer than I remembered with row after row of well-kept old buildings and the occasional McDonalds.

Being a gentleman, I took the wife out for a decaf coffee at a Costa which was part of the cinema in Bath. Thankfully, we didn’t have the time to watch a film, as I noticed that it would have cost £30 for two of us (admittedly that was the price of a blockbuster in 3D, but still...). We had a brief rant about the likely decline of cinemas as TVs get bigger and ticket prices get higher.

I got over it, eventually, and headed back to our lodge.

Stay classy Somerset, we’ll be back.
Royal Crescent in Bath
The Royal Crescent in Bath
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Holiday Park Guru Blog

    Occasional thoughts on holidays in England, Wales and Scotland, including the latest deals, discounts and last minute offers.

    This site uses cookies - see our privacy policy. Ads & links in bold may give us a small payment from the seller, at no cost to the buyer. However, this never affects our views - if we like it, we recommend it.

Westcountry & Wales

Cornwall (caravans)
​Cornwall (lodges)
Devon (caravans) 
Devon (lodges)
Dorset
​Haven Wales
Newquay

Somerset
​
Torquay/Paignton

​Weymouth
​​Wales

Scotland & North England

Alton Towers
Blackpool
Derbyshire
Lake District
Northumberland
Scotland
Yorkshire

South & East England

Essex
Great Yarmouth
Isle of Wight
​Kent
​
Legoland
London
​New Forest & Hampshire
Norfolk
​
Peppa Pig World
Skegness
Suffolk
​Sussex
​Thorpe Park

UK Wide

​Adults only
Beachside parks
​
Butlins
Center Parcs
​Center Parcs Alternatives
Cheap parks
​Dog friendly
Fishing
Haven 
Offers/discounts
Park Resorts
Pontins
Theme parks
Treehouses

Europe & World

Beaches Resorts
Brittany
Center Parcs Belgium
​Center Parcs Europe
​Center Parcs France

Center Parcs Germany
Center Parcs Holland
Disneyland
Disneyland Hotels​
Eurocamp
​France
Germany
Landal Germany
​Landal Netherlands
​
Neilson Beachclubs
Netherlands
​Roompot Netherlands
​Sandals Resorts
​Spain

About

Blog
About us
Privacy policy
​Disclaimer
While we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose.
© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Popular UK resorts
    • South West (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset) >
      • Cornwall >
        • 10 of the best Cornwall caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Cornwall holiday lodges
        • 5 best Newquay caravan holiday parks
      • Devon >
        • 10 of the best Devon caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Devon holiday lodges
        • 5 best Torquay and Paignton caravan holiday parks
      • Dorset & Somerset >
        • 10 of the best Dorset caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Weymouth caravan holiday parks
        • 5 best Somerset caravan holiday parks
    • North (Lakes, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland) >
      • 5 best Blackpool caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Derbyshire and Peak District caravan holiday parks
      • 10 best Lake District caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Northumberland and County Durham caravan holiday parks
      • 10 of the best Yorkshire caravan holiday parks
    • South (Isle of Wight, Kent, Hampshire) >
      • 5 best Essex caravan holiday parks
      • 10 best Isle of Wight caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Kent caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best New Forest and Hampshire caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Sussex and Brighton caravan holiday parks
      • Bunn Leisure Holiday Park - West Sands, White Horse and Green Lawns
    • East (Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire) >
      • 5 best Great Yarmouth caravan holiday parks
      • 10 of the best Norfolk caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Skegness caravan holiday parks
      • 5 best Suffolk caravan holiday parks
    • Scotland >
      • 10 best caravan holiday parks in Scotland
      • Haven Craig Tara or Seton Sands - which is best?
    • Wales >
      • 10 best caravan holiday parks in Wales
      • 5 best Haven caravan holiday parks in Wales
  • Popular park chains
    • 10 best Haven caravan holiday parks
    • 10 best Park Resorts caravan holiday parks
    • 3 best Pontins holiday parks
    • Which Center Parcs is the best in the UK?
    • 8 cheap alternatives to Center Parcs
    • Which Butlins is best? Minehead, Skegness or Bognor?
    • 3 Best Butlins Resorts
  • UK cities
    • North England >
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Leeds and York
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Liverpool
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Manchester, Stockport, Oldham and Bolton
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Newcastle and Sunderland
    • South and Midlands >
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Birmingham
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Bristol and Bath
      • 5 best caravan holiday parks near London
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Nottingham and Derby
    • Wales and Scotland >
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Cardiff and Swansea
      • Best caravan holiday parks near Edinburgh and Glasgow
  • By type
    • 10 cheap caravan holiday parks
    • 10 beachside caravan holiday parks
    • 10 dog friendly caravan holiday parks
    • 5 best adults and couples holiday park lodges
    • 5 best treehouse holidays
    • 10 best caravan holiday parks with fishing lakes
  • Theme parks
    • Disney theme parks >
      • Which Disney Resort is best - Disneyland Paris or Walt Disney World Florida?
      • Which is the best Disneyland Paris hotel?
      • 5 best Disneyland Paris Hotels
      • 5 best holiday parks near Disneyland Paris
    • UK theme parks >
      • Holiday parks near theme parks
      • 5 best holiday parks near Alton Towers and CBeebies Land
      • 5 best holiday parks near Legoland Windsor
      • 5 best holiday parks near Peppa Pig World
      • 3 best holiday parks near Thorpe Park theme park
  • Europe & World
    • Europe wide holiday parks >
      • Best Center Parcs Europe in France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium
      • Center Parcs Europe or Center Parks UK?
      • 10 best Eurocamp caravan holiday parks
      • Center Parcs Europe - the simple trick to save money on your booking
      • Which Neilson Beachclub Resort is Best?
      • 5 best Neilson Beachclubs
    • Belgium holiday parks >
      • Which is the best Center Parcs in Belgium?
    • France holiday parks >
      • 10 best France caravan holiday parks
      • Which Center Parcs in France is best?
      • 5 best Center Parcs in France
      • 5 best Brittany caravan holiday parks
    • Germany holiday parks >
      • Which Center Parcs is the best in Germany?
      • 5 best Landal Greenparks in Germany
      • 10 best Germany caravan holiday park resorts
    • Netherlands and Holland holiday parks >
      • 10 best Netherlands and Holland caravan holiday park resorts
      • Which is the best Center Parcs in Netherlands and Holland?
      • 10 best Landal Greenparks in Netherlands and Holland
      • 10 best Roompot holiday parks in Netherlands and Holland
    • Spain holiday parks >
      • 10 best Spain caravan holiday park resorts
    • Rest of the world >
      • Which is best - Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort, Beaches Negril Resort or Beaches Ochos Rios Resort?
      • 3 Best 'Beaches' Caribbean All-Inclusive Holiday Resorts
      • Which Sandals Beach Resort is Best?
      • 5 Best Sandals Caribbean All-Inclusive Beach Holiday Resorts
  • About
    • About Holiday Park Guru
    • Disclaimer
    • Offers
    • Blog
    • Privacy