I booked a long weekend at the Bradford Old Windmill in April 2010 as a surprise for my partner. I wanted somewhere that would be unusual, beautiful and relaxing - and I was not disappointed!

I had not looked on trip advisor before I booked the room, and after reading the reviews I was a little aprehensive about the parking situation and the freedom that we would have.

On arrival, we could see exactly why the owners had requested for guests not to bring large cars. The property can only be accessed down a very narrow driveway, which cars must be parked at the side of. As we have a small car (and my partner is an excellent driver!), we had absolutely no problems, and we left the car at the windmill for the entire weekend. If you are not confident about parking, then the owner is happy to assist you.

I had booked the Damsel room for the entire weekend. Unfortunately, I then discovered that my partner had had a bad nights sleep on a waterbed in the past, and was less than happy about the idea of sleeping on one for three nights! The owner was absolutely lovely about the situation, and let us move to the Great Spur room for 2 of the nights, but we would have to use the Damsel room for the third night as the others all had previous bookings.

The Great Spur room is AMAZING! The bed is very large and comfortable, the view is lovely, the room itself is a good size and the jacuzzi is very large and modern (big enough for two!). Again, I had seen that people had previously complained about the time restrictions for using the jacuzzi, but as it is quite loud I can understand exactly why guests are asked not to use it later in the evening.

Bradford-on-Avon is a perfect location for somewhere to go to unwind. On the Saturday, we went for a long walk along the canal, and stopped at several local pubs along the way. The windmill is in a very convenient location to get to the village itself, and through to the canals. Even though it was raining, you can't complain when you can sit infront of an open fire to warm yourself up, along with a drink and some local food! Our hosts were wonderful, providing us with local maps before we set out and drying our coats and boots out for us on our return. We then spent a lovely evening at the Dandy Lion pub before turning in for the night. As we were going to return after 11pm, our hosts gave us a key to let ourselves back in, and we had no problems at all.

Although you can eat at the windmill, we decided to only have breakfast there, as we weren't sure what time we would be returning each night. The breakfasts were absolutely delicious though. As a vegan, I can often find it very diffcult to find anything nice to eat when staying away. However, I was given a whole menu of choices, and I was not disappointed with any of the three meals that I chose. My partner eats meat, so he was provided with a different menu that included choices with meat in them. He was also really happy with the breakfast spread every day.

On the Sunday, we decided to go to the Spa in Bath. The train station is a very short walk from the Windmill, and the trains leave frequently. Again, this was fantastic as we did not have to drive anywhere, and could really relax for the entire weekend.

On our final night we returned to the Damsel room. This is a lot smaller than the Great Spur room, and the view is not as good. This room also has its own jacuzzi, but it is a lot less modern, and you could only comfortably fit one person in it. However, as we had spent the day at the Spa, we did not mind this. The waterbed itself turned out to be extremely comfortable, and we both had a really good nights sleep. It is worth staying in this room just to try sleeping on a waterbed!

So to sum up our experience; wonderful location, friendly and helpful hosts, yummy food and we had a thoroughly relaxing weekend! We try to visit lots of different areas, but if we ever need to go back to Bradford-on-Avon, then we would definitely stay there again.