Nant yr Esgair

If you've spent any time at all watching the Teletubbies on TV, then Nant yr Esgair is going to be eerily familiar – a cosy burrow for two hidden underneath a grassy mound in a beautiful rural location in the wilds of North Wales, just within the splendours of the Snowdonia National Park.

It's a unique self-catering property, and the cosiest place to stay that you could possibly imagine, inspired not so much by Teletubbies in fact as the the hobbit's house in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings.  Basically a one-storey, brick-lined log cabin set within a grassy bank, it has an open-plan living space with a dining and sitting area and fully fitted kitchen electric oven and hob, microwave, fridge and Smart TV. There's a bedroom with a king-size bed and en-suite shower, and the sofa also converts into a convenient double bed to sleep two extra guests, so it's ideal for a young family as well as a couple. There's a breakfast bar with space for 4, while outside there's also a covered dining area with a wood-fired hot tub nearby, from where you can take in the glorious surrounding scenery.

Not far from the villages of Mallwyd and Dinas Mawddwy, right on the southern fringes of Snowdonia, it's a terrific base for the national park, and for mid-Wales too – you're just  a short journey from the quirky and appealing market town of Machylnneth to the south, with its indy shops and restaurants, but also only a few miles from Dolgellau and the Mawddach Trail down to Barmouth on the coast.  Indeed you're spoilt for choice with so much beautiful scenery nearby, but like a hobbit to make the most of it you will first have to rouse yourself from your every-so-comfortable burrow!