After the mayhem of our wedding, we wanted to get away from it all and disappear for a little while. It’s just nice to grab some time with your new spouse – just the two of you. Last year, we spent a magical Christmas in Austria, an experience we will never forget. On Christmas day we climbed a mountain to get to where the snow was falling, and it was uber special.You can read all about our trip here.
This year, we didn’t have the energy (or the finances) to drive to Austria and haul the pooches across the border. And with so much beauty on our doorstep, we decided to plan a Christmas staycation in the UK. I mean, don’t get me wrong, travelling around the world is exhilarating and exciting, but there are also times where you just want convenience.
We searched far and wide to find the right sort of place to spend Christmas. And those with dogs will appreciate the difficulties of finding somewhere to stay with canine companions. We didn’t want to go more than around 3 hours away, and eventually settled on Cambridge. It’s about 2.5 hours from us.
We came across Fullers Hill Cottages and knew right away it was the perfect place. The owners were really helpful when it came to sorting our booking and provided lots of useful info. It’s hard these days to find truly dog friendly accommodation, but they were happy to have the dogs from the getgo.
The location
The cottages are located in the Cambridge countryside. They’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, but that’s exactly what we wanted. Just us + total peace and quiet. Fuller’s Hill is located on a farm next to an airfield, and with access to plenty of walking routes. It was fun walking past the vintage planes parked on the airfield every day (you just have to take care when crossing the field).
We also had a list of personal pub recommendations from John the owner (The Red House, Longstowe, The Willow, Bourn and The Coach House). The information booklet contained info on local supermarkets, restaurants and takeaways.
Not too far away was a lovely farm shop with fresh local produce. We bought our meat from here for Christmas day. And they’ve got some tasty cheeses too.
Cambridge is about 20 minutes away from the cottages, meaning you can easily pop there for a day out and then retreat back to your cottage for some serious down time. If you do end up staying here, watch out for the sunsets, they’re just beautiful.
The facilities
The lounge and kitchen area was very spacious, possessing one key component for us – a corner sofa. There’s literally nothing worse when you’re staying somewhere and you can’t lie down on the sofa, or you and your partner can’t fit on the sofa together. It makes it kind of hard to relax properly.
The kitchen was huge with all the equipment you could need. Plus there were some tea bags and a coffee machine with some yummy biscuits. The owners raise money for their choice of charity, the RSPB. They make jam and chutney that you can take and give a donation for – the chutney was sooo good and went perfectly with the mountains of cheese we ate.
They also use eco friendly washing up liquid and toiletries and have some info on how to be mindful of your usage when you stay. The bedroom had a rather large super king bed which was much appreciated.
And they were true to form when it came to the dogs. Our lucky pooches even had some doggy treats and food in a little gift box. They loved the duck flavoured treats!
The cottage had a very relaxing feel about it, with views across to the nearby fields. The decor was soft, fresh and modern and very homely. It definitely felt like a home from home.
The hot tub!
Perhaps one of the best things about staying at Fullers Hill Cottages was the hot tub.
It was ahhhhmazing. We’re certainly not talking your standard hot tub here. It was an all singing, all dancing luxury six person hot tub complete with soothing mood lighting, a socket to plug in music and super powerful jets. We had a hot tub every single day we were there. And the owners even put on a firework display that all the guests could watch from afar on Christmas eve – another thoughtful touch.
Who is it ideal for?
I’d say these cottages are best suited to country bumpkins and people who like to spend time in the great outdoors. You can literally walk for miles, and it’s a good spot to go bird watching. As I mentioned, it’s also ideal for dog owners as our pooches were made to feel so welcome and they had great fun on the walks. It’s good for a quiet romantic getaway, family weekend or for a pamper weekend for the girls. I think they host a few hen dos here too.
If you want to check out the specific cottage we stayed in, you can read more about it here.
