Cooking Christmas dinner somewhere that isn’t your own kitchen is entirely doable, and it goes considerably better with an hour of planning behind it.
Our three-bedroom cottages sleep five or six, with an en-suite in the master bedroom and a generously sized kitchen and dining area. They’re set up for exactly this sort of stay: enough room that people can be in different parts of the property doing different things, which on Christmas Day is not a small consideration.
Here’s what’s worth sorting before you arrive.
Ring us about the kitchen before you plan the menu
This is the first thing to do and the one most people leave until they’ve unpacked.
Our kitchens have a gas hob, an electric oven, a fridge-freezer, a microwave, kettle, toaster, and the cooking utensils and crockery you’d expect. That covers a Christmas dinner comfortably.
What varies between properties is the detail, and Christmas Day is the one day of the year when the detail matters. Whether there’s a dishwasher, how big the oven is, how many roasting tins and large pans are in the cupboard. Rather than guess, ring us and ask about the specific property before you commit to a menu built around a very large bird.
It’s also worth saying at the point of booking that you’re planning to cook Christmas dinner. We’d rather know, because it changes what we’d try to put you in.
Get the shopping in early
Supermarkets close on Christmas Day, and in the days before it the delivery slots go weeks in advance.
Plenty of guests arrange a grocery delivery to arrive here shortly before or after they check in, which works well and saves a supermarket run in the last week of December. There are shops within walking distance for the things you forget, and a larger supermarket a short drive away, but neither will help you at eleven o’clock on the twenty-fifth.
If you’re ordering a delivery, tell us roughly when it’s coming so we can point the driver in the right direction.
Pack the awkward things
A well-equipped self-catering kitchen is equipped for normal cooking, not for the most demanding meal of the year. These are the things guests most often wish they’d brought:
- A roasting tin large enough for whatever you’ve bought, since ours are sized for ordinary use
- A carving knife you actually trust
- Foil, cling film and a decent supply of kitchen roll
- More tea towels than seem reasonable
- A meat thermometer if you normally use one
- Any specific serving dishes you’d like on the table, including a gravy boat or two
- Crackers, candles and whatever else makes it feel like Christmas rather than lunch
None of it is essential. All of it is easier to bring than to buy on 24 December.
Think about who’s eating, not just who’s sleeping
The cottage sleeps five or six. If your Christmas Day involves relatives driving over for the meal and going home afterwards, that’s a different number from the one you booked for.
Tell us if you’re expecting day guests. There’s parking on site and plenty of it, so that side is straightforward, but it’s worth us knowing, and it’s worth you thinking about how many people the dining area seats before you invite nine.
Timing the day
The advantage of self-catering over a hotel Christmas is that you eat when you want to. Nobody is giving you a sitting time, and if the potatoes need another twenty minutes, they get another twenty minutes.
The disadvantage is that you’re doing the washing up. Splitting the day between people helps: someone on the cooking, someone else on the clearing, and a firm agreement about who is doing neither and is in charge of drinks and the television instead.
Outside, there are communal gardens and walking tracks across the estate, which is genuinely useful somewhere between the main course and the point at which everyone falls asleep.
Practical things worth knowing
Housekeeping runs weekly, so ask us how that falls across your dates. Christmas week is not a normal week and it’s better to know in advance than to be surprised either way.
Our office is on site but won’t be staffed on Christmas Day itself, so anything you need us for is best raised on the twenty-third or twenty-fourth. There’s an out-of-hours number for genuine problems.
Every property has central heating, which you’ll be glad of, and a washer and dryer, which you’ll be glad of after Boxing Day.
Booking for Christmas
Christmas is one of our busiest periods and it doesn’t work like a normal booking. Minimum stays apply at peak times, and some properties come off the website entirely, so what you see online is not the full picture.
Ring us rather than booking online. Tell us how many of you there are, whether you’re cooking, and whether anyone’s joining you for the day. We’ll tell you honestly what we’ve got.
Have a look at our three-bedroom cottages or our frequently asked questions, then get in touch or call us on 0191 371 0251.
