Rennington House, Northumberland
There is currently 30% off stays at this six-bedroom Georgian house, which usually sleeps 12. Groups of six won’t be short of space – downstairs is a drawing room with an open fire, a dining room, a kitchen with an Aga, an office, a snug with French doors to the garden, a utility room and a boot room. Up the main staircase are six bedrooms and a family bathroom, with two more bedrooms and a shower room via a second staircase. The sizeable grounds include a walled garden and a barn converted into a games room. Two dogs are welcome. Rennington village has a pub, and it is a few miles to Alnwick, with its castle, and the fishing village of Craster.
• Seven nights from £882 for six, saving £378, until 1 December, crabtreeandcrabtree.com
Bridge End Farm Cottages, Lake District
This collection of seven Grade II-listed holiday cottages includes the Elizabethan Bridge End Farmhouse, usually sleeping eight, and a converted barn, Scafell Cottage, with room for nine. There are now low-occupancy discounts for two guests staying in the farmhouse or four staying in the cottage. The former has original flagstone floors, oak panelling, a woodburning stove and a private garden. The latter has a double-height entrance, beams, a woodburner and a galleried bedroom. The cottages are in Boot, a small village in Eskdale with two pubs, five minutes’ walk from Dalegarth station – the eastern terminus of the Ravenglass and Eskdale steam railway. Many of the Lake District’s highlights are within walking distance, including Scafell Pike, Wastwater and Stanley Force waterfall.
• Four nights in November from £640 for four, saving £160, or £560 for two, saving £240, premiercottages.co.uk. To receive the discount price click “book now” and select number of people
Plas Newydd, Gwynedd
An 18th-century farmhouse, Plas Newydd has a small-party discount in October. Guests don’t have use of the two-bedroom wing, but there is more than enough room in the five-bedroom main house. Features include include a kitchen/diner with an Aga, a lounge with a woodburner and a family bathroom with a roll-top bath; there are lots of oak beams, exposed stone and tiled floors. Outside, there are lawns, wildflowers and a stream. The house is near Aberdaron and Abersoch on the Llyn peninsula, less than two miles from sandy beaches.
• Seven nights from £1,543 for up to nine in October (children under 12 are exempt from the rule of six in Wales), saving £750 and £1,293 for seven nights any week in November qualitycottages.co.uk
Lamperts Dairy, Dorset
This converted dairy usually sleeps 12, meaning each member of a group of six could have their own en-suite bedroom. There is an open-plan lounge/kitchen/dining area with a woodburner and doors to the patio, and a games room on a mezzanine level. The eco-friendly property (with solar heating) is just outside the picturesque village of Sydling St Nicholas, where thatched cottages are reached by tiny bridges over Sydling Water, a tributary of the River Frome. There is a walking trail from the dairy through part of the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; it is a 15-minute walk to the nearest pub, seven miles to the county town of Dorchester and about double that to the beach at Weymouth.
• Seven nights in October from £1,386 for six, saving £883, holidaycottages.co.uk
Gray Manes, Somerset
Groups of six can have the run of this grand stone house just south of the Levels, which normally sleeps 14, thanks to hefty discounts. Gray Manes is great for kids, with a heated indoor pool; a games room with air hockey, table football and pool; and nearly two acres of grounds with a play area (swings, slides, trampoline) and lots of garden games, including table tennis, badminton, croquet and football nets. Adults will appreciate the 27ft drawing room with a woodburner in the inglenook fireplace and the six en-suite bedrooms. The ancient market towns of Langport and Somerton are a couple of miles away, with Glastonbury an 11-mile drive to the north. Wells and Wookey Hole are slightly further afield.
• Four nights in October from £900 for six, saving £570, or £1,390 in November, saving £810, premiercottages.co.uk
Dalmore House, Perth and Kinross
Small groups can stay in splendour at this baronial mansion near the Cromarty Firth, built in 1809, which normally sleeps 12. Highlights include the grand hall, which has a beamed ceiling, a piano, panelled walls, a woodburner; the formal drawing room, with an open fire and views over the grounds; the dining room, which has a chandelier and doors to a terrace; and the four rooms (out of five) that have four-poster beds. There is also a games room with a full-size pool table. More than 3.5 hectares of grounds are enclosed by woodland, and there is a riverside walk to Alness, the nearest village. It is 20 miles from Inverness and within reach of Chanonry Point for dolphin-spotting.
• Seven nights in October from £1,069 for six, saving £180, scottscastles.com
The Barn at Sundayshill, Gloucestershire
Near the village of Falfield, between the River Severn and the Cotswold Edge, the Barn at Sundayshill was converted from farm buildings this year, and makes a great stay for larger groups. It normally sleeps nine, but spaces and pricing have been reconfigured in light of the rule of six, with a lot of communal space and three en-suite bedrooms. It’s also accessible (kitchen, lounge and bedrooms on one level) and eco-friendly. The conversion reused a lot of original material and locally sourced timber; the heating (underfloor) and hot water are powered by an air-source heat pump; toiletries are by Faith in Nature and visitors can buy eggs and vegetables from the owners’ kitchen garden in season.
• Three nights in October £877 or £207 a night plus fees, airbnb.co.uk
Brownber House and Brownber Hall, Yorkshire dales
Overlooking the Howgill Fells, Brownber Hall opened as a small hotel in 2016 but converted to self-catering in the wake of the pandemic. The eight-bedroom property can sleep up to 15, but is currently catering to six at an amazing price for such a large, design-led house. The hall was the main house of the estate, and owners Peter and Amanda have also revamped the Victorian farmhouse as a second self-catering option, with four bedrooms. In extensive grounds in the north-west corner of the estate, the two properties ((about 50m apart) can be rented separately, and are in the perfect location for outdoor lovers with the dales and the Lake District to explore. Home-cooked suppers, breakfast hampers and picnics can all be supplied on request.
• Both properties currently cost from £1,100 each for seven nights, for up to six people, compared with £2,750 for the hall and £1,800 for the house at full capacity, lifestyle-collective.com
Valley View, Milldale, Staffordshire
There is peace and tranquility to be found amid the rugged drama of the Peak District national park at this pet-friendly property in Milldale. Usually, the house sleeps up to 15 in six bedrooms – including one bedroom in an annexe accessed from the back of the house, through the rear garden – but the rule of six here might be about spreading out. There is a spacious lounge with a logburner and a well-equipped kitchen that seats 14. It’s a 20-minute walk to the village of Alstonefield, and its pub, The George, and a short drive to the market town of Ashbourne. There are spectacular walks all around, too, including near the River Dove, which is just 100 yards from the house.
• £949 for four nights from 23 October, saving £1,000, independentcottages.co.uk
Mottistone Manor Farmhouse, Isle of Wight
Close to Brighstone village, this restored 18th-century farmhouse has seven bedrooms, light-filled living spaces and a large garden with sea views. Vintage wooden furniture and a woodburne give it a cosy-cottage feel. Other features include a roll-top bath, window alcove seating, and free access for guests to all the National Trust properties on the island. The nearest, the gardens of Mottistone Estate, includes orchards, wild flower and herbaceous banks, and a woodland trail leading to the Long Stone – a bronze-age burial mound marked by a pair of large upright stones. Also close by is the iron-age fort and viewpoint of Castle Hill, while the sandy shores of Compton Bay and Brook beach are both a five-minute drive. The National Trust is offering discounts of up to 30% on all of its larger cottages and bunkhouses until the end of October, and possibly beyond.
• £864 for three nights, saving 30% (originally £1,234), nationaltrust.org.uk
