Half-term has a habit of creeping up on you. One minute it’s the first week of term, the next you’re scrolling at midnight wondering whether anywhere decent is still free. Good news, then. Coolstays has sent round a handful of UK homes that were still available for October half-term.
There’s a Victorian station master’s house with a hot tub beside a working platform, a glass-fronted retreat on the Isle of Harris, beach houses in Whitstable and St Mawes, a Devon cottage with a pool for the kids and an architect-designed barn on an Essex farm. “From contemporary barns and beach houses near London to a quirky railway station stay, these are still available to book on Coolstays,” the company said.
1. Station House Malvern, Worcestershire
Sleep where the station master once lived, with a hot tub on the platform
This is the one that made us look twice. Station House Malvern is the former station master’s residence, built in 1883 beside Malvern Link station, and it has been reworked into luxury accommodation with views over the platform. Booked as a whole, Coolstays describes it as three self-contained spaces with four bedrooms between them, plus several hot tubs, including one right beside the platform.
It’s quirky without being twee, and it works brilliantly for two families or a group of friends who want their own space but still want to share dinner.
2. Mol Bàn, Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides
Floor-to-ceiling windows, a log burner and the sea all the way to Skye
If your idea of a half-term reset involves wild weather on the other side of the glass and a fire crackling on this one, Mol Bàn is the dream. Each of the three bedrooms looks out to sea, and the house also has a double-height living space, windows that stretch from floor to ceiling, a log burner and a larch deck for when the sky clears. The owners describe views across the sea towards Skye and the Highlands, which, frankly, is enough to sell it on its own.
3. The Foredeck, Whitstable, Kent
Four floors of beach house, with the sea right outside the door
For a coastal escape that doesn’t involve half a day on the motorway, The Foredeck is hard to beat. This four-bedroom beachfront house sits on West Beach with direct access to the shingle, and it’s arranged over four floors, with the best bit saved for the top. On the top floor, the lounge’s full-height windows frame panoramic sea views, and that’s exactly where we’d be planted with a coffee at sunrise and a glass of something at sunset.
4. The Moorings, St Mawes, Cornwall
A Victorian waterfront house looking out to a lighthouse
St Mawes is one of those Cornish villages that looks like it was designed for a postcard, and The Moorings has a front-row seat. This four-bedroom Victorian house sits on the waterfront overlooking Tavern Beach, with views across St Mawes harbour towards the Carrick Headlands and St Anthony’s lighthouse.
The garden and terrace are just opposite the house, on the other side of a peaceful, narrow road, so you can take your morning tea over and watch the boats come and go. Falmouth is close by for an afternoon of galleries and harbour wandering, but we suspect you won’t feel much need to leave.
5. Aylesbury Cottage, Combe Martin, North Devon
A hot tub for the grown-ups, an indoor pool and play area for the kids
Coolstays cheekily calls North Devon “the new South Devon”, and Aylesbury Cottage makes a decent case for it. It’s a stone cottage on the Coulscott estate near Combe Martin, with its own private hot tub and access to a shared indoor pool and children’s play facilities. In other words, the rainy-day problem is solved before you’ve unpacked.
6. Millers, North Essex
An architect-designed barn on a working farm, with a wood-burner for chilly evenings
Millers is the easiest escape on the list for Londoners, and the most affordable short break. This two-bedroom, architect-designed barn sits on Bullocks Farm, a working farm in Great Canfield near Bishop’s Stortford. Inside, it’s open plan with big windows, underfloor heating and a wood-burning stove, which is exactly what you want as the evenings draw in.
It’s a lovely size for a couple wanting a few quiet days in the countryside or a small family with young children. The farm setting gives it a sense of being properly away from it all, even though it’s an easy hop from town.
If none of these fits your dates, Coolstays keeps a page of its newest properties that’s worth a scroll.
