Lobbs Cottage

Lobbs Cottage is a 3-bedroom cottage in St Mawgan, a quiet inland village in the Vale of Mawgan between Newquay and Padstow. It sleeps six across three bedrooms with two bathrooms, takes dogs, and is priced from £439 per night. Rated 4.7/5 from four guest reviews.

Inside, the cottage has both a wood burner and an open fire - useful from October through to April when this north Cornwall valley turns cold. Three bedrooms sit on the ground floor alongside a family bathroom. The kitchen is equipped with a dishwasher and washing machine. Wi-Fi and off-road parking are included, and a BBQ is available for the garden.

Mawgan Porth is 1.7 miles west - a wide, sandy north-facing beach with a cafe, surf hire and reliable swell for bodyboarders. Watergate Bay, the long stretch of sand backed by Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Cornwall restaurant site, is 2.2 miles north. Bedruthan Steps - the dramatic rock stacks on the National Trust headland - are 2.7 miles along the coast.

Best for: families or groups with dogs wanting a rural cottage base with genuine winter warmth, within 10 minutes of several of Cornwall's top north-coast beaches. Less good for: those wanting to walk to the beach, or couples for whom a 3-bed at £439/night is oversized.