The Maldives-like overwater bungalow resort in the UK that has a new outdoor pool and slide complex
Clawford Lakes, the holiday park that opened three years ago not only has floating lodges, but now has a brand-new outdoor swimming pool and three flumes.
The holiday park is set across 98 acres in Holsworthy which is half an hour away from Bude and is surrounded by sparkling blue lakes.
It's known to be a great fishing spot and a place to enjoy paddle boarding and kayaking, plus there's also a new pool.
The outdoor pool is heated and 25 metres long.
It even has three flumes, which have been popular with families staying there.
One recent visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: "The outdoor pool had just opened when we arrived we did get to use it. My daughter loved the water slides and went on them repeatedly."
The holiday park is hoping to keep the pool and flumes open until October Half Term (weather permitting).
When it comes to accommodation, there's plenty of options from floating lodges to luxury pods.
The lake pods are set across a private lake and look like they could be in another country.
One visitor remarked: "Clawford Lakes is an absolutely stunning venue. The lakes look like something from the Maldives - such a stunning blue colour! It's nice and peaceful as well."
Guests can enjoy views across the water from a private deck in the summertime.
The beautiful lake an hour from London with overwater bungalows like the Maldives
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If it's rainy, visitors can still take it all in thanks to the ceiling to floor glass windows.
The pods have an open plan living and dining area plus fully fitted kitchen complete with standard size oven, microwave, hob and fridge.
They sleep up to four people, with a double bed and sofa bed meaning both couples and families can stay there - all of them are dog-friendly too.
Aside from enjoying the water, there's plenty to do at the holiday park from walking routes to trying out archery.
There is an the onsite restaurant and bar called The Apple & Grape with gastro-pub meals and local ales.
For anyone not wanting to swim outside, they can head to the spa where there's an indoor heated pool which is open 7 days a week.
Visitors can also book treatments like massages and even an entire spa day for pampering.
Here's a look inside the new spa woodland pods that have opened in the UK that make you feel like you are abroad.
And check out these five holiday parks in England that are the friendliest, with one even likened to a five-star hotel.
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The Sun
a day ago
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The two UK towns getting new train stations for the first time in over 60 years for £45million
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Times
2 days ago
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25 of the best hotels in Devon
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Details B&B doubles from £268 ( Clad in larch and with a grass roof, this striking modernist house seems to disappear into the landscape from one angle, while from across the lake it becomes a contemporary design composed of wood and glass. The striking style continues inside, where sleek Scandi-influenced interiors and expansive windows create a feel of real luxury. The house scooped a Riba award in 2019; it's the kind of place that would send Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud into paroxysms of pleasure. Set on the Chevithorne Barton Estate between Exmoor and the Blackdown Hills, the grounds encompass a nationally significant oak collection, as well as two rowing lakes and lots of wildflower Seven nights' self-catering for ten from £4,995 ( Newly opened in 2025, Fowlescombe looks set to become one of Devon's fanciest farm getaways for those who can afford it. 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Which you should: the River Dart and the South Hams are on your Seven nights' self-catering for four from £2,645 ( Long lauded as one of south Devon's top dining pubs, the Millbrook has also added a brace of upmarket self-catering cottages to its portfolio — meaning you can dine and drink to excess and still be within stumbling distance of your own bed. The two cottages, Land and Sea, share a similar palette: light, white and Scandi-adjacent, with the cottages' rustic architecture contrasting against bespoke joinery, digital window blinds and trendy furniture. There's also a private garden for guests' use. The village is quiet and off the beaten track, so a good place to escape for quiet walks. Both cottages have a two-night minimum stay; dogs are welcome. Details Two nights' self-catering for two people from £590 ( The location is almost hard to believe here: a grandstand position above the epic, sea-swashed sweep of Saunton Sands. Throw in glossy interiors that look like something from a Homes & Gardens shoot and you're getting some idea of the scene. The clifftop villa has been adapted into seven self-contained apartments, with French doors opening onto a (shared) 60ft balcony that spans the width of the building. For maximum glamour (and privacy), opt for the top-floor penthouse, which looks like a luxe loft in the Hamptons and has a wood-burner, skylights and private balcony. Details One night's self-catering for two from £399 ( A lovelier coastal inn you could not hope to find — and even though it's now owned by the Cornish brewing behemoth St Austell Brewery, it's clung onto its hugger-mugger, thatched character. The rooms in the main inn are as cosy as they come, higgledy-piggledy in style, with little windows peeping out onto the road; there are more spacious rooms in a terrace of cottages across from the main inn. But it's the downstairs bar where everyone congregates: low-slung and beamed, with big stone fireplaces and vintage knick-knacks on the walls, it's the perfect picture of a Devon B&B doubles from £150 ( The little waterside village of Stoke Gabriel on the River Dart has a long and illustrious history of boat-building and this house has been impressively converted from its original incarnation as a 19th-century boat house. It stands right beside the water's edge, with widescreen windows and balconies opening onto the river. A striking staircase winds up through the centre, connecting the open-plan kitchen diner with the upper floors, and there's a charming waterside patio. For lunch pop along to the River Shack for seafood, then hire a kayak or paddleboard to see the river up Seven nights' self-catering for four from £4,995 ( This is the ultimate seaside cabin, tucked under tall cliffs on its own private patch of beach on the little-explored stretch of coast between Noss Mayo and Bigbury-on-Sea. It's reached via a 15-minute walk down the steep cliff path from nearby Carswell Farm. At the bottom, you'll find the hut, solidly built from slate and stone. Outside there's a tiny beachside patio and an alfresco hot tub; inside, there are hammocks, a little kitchen, a tiny bathroom and a bed loft reached by ladder. Despite its off-grid location there's mains water and electricity, and a wood-burner for chilly nights. You can even get supper hampers delivered — which is handy, considering the nearest shop is miles away. It's unsurprisingly popular, however, so you'll have to book months ahead — or settle for one of the other cottages on the farm. Details Two nights' self-catering for two from £910 ( Have we missed your favourite Devon stay? Let us know in the comments below
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Lookout, Devon! Our overnight stay in a 1940s observation post
It's not always possible to take a holiday, but sometimes the yearning to be somewhere else, to leave the pressures of daily life behind, is too hard to ignore. Last bank holiday weekend, with a 13th birthday to celebrate and a row of suns on the weather app, we found a solution. Our family of four, plus two of my sons' friends, would drive two hours west, to Devon. We'd stay by the sea, go cycling and swimming, play Perudo and sit around a campfire, eating birthday cake. And be home the next day. We'd be 24-hour party people. Only less rock'n'roll, more rock pools and bacon rolls. The catalyst was discovering Brandy Head on a Google Maps scroll. Like a mini youth hostel, sleeping six, with one double bed, two twin bunks, a shower room and an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, this boxy little building sits on the clifftops between Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton, accessible only on foot. Perched nearly 60m above sea level, its terrace is the big selling point, enjoying such gull's-eye views of the sea that it feels like surfing a very tall wave every time you step on to it. Those views now bring a steady stream of guests to Brandy Head, but in the past they brought the RAF – the building was originally put up in 1940 as an observation post for the top secret Gunnery Research Unit based at RAF Exeter. Apparently, it was here that Prof Sir Bennett Melvill Jones perfected the revolutionary aircraft gunnery sight that helped give allied air forces superiority on D-day. Restored from dereliction five years ago by Nell and Sam Walker, tenants of neighbouring Stantyway Farm, in partnership with their landowner, Clinton Devon Estates, Brandy Head opened as a hikers' hut in 2021. Not only would a stay steeped in military history entertain the boys but it was also close to Haldon Forest Park for mountain-biking, and two beaches for swimming, paddleboarding and a dependable supply of ice-creams. We stopped at Haldon Forest Park on the way – and the boys and my husband, Richard, collected their pre-booked bikes and sped off along the park's trails to hurtle over jumps, bridges and boardwalks. I swerved pedals in favour of hiking boots and headed to Canonteign Falls, another find from map scrolling, just 15 minutes' drive away. Home to what the website describes as the highest waterfall in south-west England, Canonteign is a collection of lakes, woodland walks and gardens with a cafe and adventure playground. Its showpiece waterfall was created in the late 19th century, but the real magic lies beyond it, in the fern garden, planted in Victorian times. Largely forgotten, it has been restored by the current owners and the fern expert Julian Reed, and forms an atmospheric glade where children hunt for fairies. It was hard to leave this otherworldly spot, but there were boys to collect, and once reunited it was a half-hour drive to the sea, the back of the car a happy, flat-batteried fug of post-ride exhaustion. Snaking down lanes fizzing with cow parsley and red campion, and through thatched villages festooned with bunting, it felt less like we were driving to the coast and more like driving into the 1950s. Nell had left instructions for collecting the keys near Stantyway Farm's honesty cafe, a former Royal Navy warship container now stocked with tea, coffee, homemade flapjacks, squash and dog biscuits. It's possible to leave cars here and walk in along a slightly longer route, but we carried on to the end of the lane, from where it's a 10-minute walk up the fairly steep coastal path to Brandy Head. 'This is awesome,' said Alex, one of my sons' friends, spotting a display of bullets fixed under a plastic tabletop on the building's terrace, evidence of the ammunition testing that was also carried out here during the second world war. 'I'm in the top bunk,' said my newly teenage son Owen, racing to bag his spot. No sooner had we put our supplies in the kitchen and slumped on the sofa than a head popped round the open doorway. 'Ooh, can we have a look inside?' As Nell had warned us, visiting walkers are almost as much a feature of a stay here as the terrace is. The South West Coast Path runs along the front of the building and, while a good proportion of its hikers make up Brandy Head's bookings, others stop to fill up water bottles from the outdoor tap, or to rest on the benches. If you're looking for seclusion this is probably not the place, but, as a quirky overnight stay, it added to the charm. 'Beach time,' announced Lucas, another friend, when the walkers had left, sliders on, towel slung over his shoulders, chivvying the others out of the door. Turning east, it was a gentle 20-minute walk to Ladram Bay, a holiday park with a handy grocery store, a chip shop and a perfect little arc of public beach where we hopped over pebbles to swim in the bracing, briny cool. Sign up to The Traveller Get travel inspiration, featured trips and local tips for your next break, as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays after newsletter promotion After bowls of warming chilli and slices of birthday cake back at Brandy Head, we piled into the field behind the building and lit the firepit, set up there for guests to watch the sunset. 'This place is cool,' the boys agreed, before heading back inside to play cards. The next morning we drank tea on the terrace at sunrise before the day's walkers arrived, listening to skylarks and blackbirds. We walked to Budleigh Salterton, through the River Otter Estuary nature reserve, keeping an eye out for otters, beavers and sandpipers. We watched the boys whoop as they caught the chilly swoosh of more waves – and ate pasties from a kiosk on the beach before driving home. That evening by the firepit, though, Richard and I sat listening to waves breaking far below in the fading light. As hares leapt across the field in front of us, it was comforting to think that Stantyway Farm's wildlife-friendly approach has meant that land once used to prepare for war was now nurturing habitats for cirl buntings and peregrines. And those humans lucky enough to visit – even if just for one night. Brandy Head Observation Post sleeps six people and costs £180 for one night and £120 for each subsequent night
