An index page for roundhouse accommodation, holiday homes ...
Round house holiday accommodation
in circular buildings, from roundhouses to watch towers
Featured Sites
The Round House» a 5-bedroom round holiday home on the edge of Ilfracombe ... MORE
Poppy's Footprint» an unusual retreat for two in North Yorkshire. A new-build circular cottage ... MORE
Archirondel Tower
located: Saint Martin, Jersey, Channel Islands, UK
self-catering | sleeps:7
Camping barn style accommodation in a circular fort, suitable for short stays, weekends or overnight stops. The building has no running water or toilet facilities, but public toilets and a beach cafe are nearby. It has has electricity, a fridge and kettle as well as seven beds (your own sleeping bags or bedding must be supplied).
De Paddestoel
located: Wateren, Drenthe, Netherlands
self-catering | sleeps:6 | bedrooms:3
Distinctive modern holiday home in the woods around Wateren. The house is entirely round making a visit a unique experience. It can sleep to to six guests and is comfortably furnished with contemporary furnishings and equipped with all modern conveniences. There is also a garden with garden furniture, a patio and table tennis.
Hotel Im Wasserturm
located: Cologne, Germany
visit site»
hotel
An international, luxury, 5-star hotel in Cologne, in what was Europe's largest water tower, now classified as a heritage site. This hotel has real wow factor and is one of the most unusual hotels in Germany; for a former utilitarian building it is surprisingly attractive, particularly when lit at night. Hotel Im Wasserturm offers 78 guestrooms.
Kempt Tower
located: St Ouen's Bay, Jersey, UK
self-catering | sleeps:12
A unique self-catering apartment sleeping up to twelve guests. This round tower was erected as a defence against invasion; it offers a kitchen, comfortable lounge area, dining area and a roof terrace with 360° views across the bay. There is easy access to the beach, local cafés and restaurants, and great walking in the surrounding dunes and wetlands.
Marmara Antalya (The)
located: Antalya, Turkey
visit site»
hotel
The world's first circular revolving hotel; a section of the hotel, the Loft Club Room, rotates slowly on it's foundations providing stunning views. The hotel consists of 238 originally designed rooms and the hotel has its very own private beach, swimming pool, restaurant, bar/lounge and poolside bar.
Martello Tower
located: Aldeburgh, Suffolk, UK
self-catering | sleeps:4 | bedrooms:2
A unique building, this Martello tower retains its military feel and offers spacious lofty accommodation for four guests. The vaulted interior offers a central living space with bedrooms screened off to the sides. There is a stone-flagged battery on the roof, with great views.
Moulin de Bissat
located: Lagrasse, Hérault-Aude, France
self-catering | sleeps:2 | bedrooms:1
An enchanting converted windmill (without sails) with beautiful views over the local vineyards. This three-room house makes a great retreat for two. There is an outdoor covered terrace, barbecue and use of a swimming pool. The towns of Lezignan and Carcasonne are all within half an hours drive.
Poppy's Footprint Featured Site
located: Middleham, North Yorkshire, UK
self-catering | sleeps:2 | bedrooms:1
An unusual romantic cottage retreat for two in the heart of Middleham in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. This unique, entirely circular, newly built one bedroomed cottage offering a secret hideaway in a walled suntrap garden. From its beautifully planted and sensitively lit garden, to its smart contemporary interior, it's ideal for a relaxing break.
Right Round House B&B
located: Veryan, Cornwall, UK
bed & breakfast
A chance to stay B&B in one of Veryan's famous Round Houses. Guests can stay in a luxury suite in the original Round House, with a private entrance, a circular sitting room and a spacious, round, en-suite bedroom.
Rotunda, Staying Cool
located: Birmingham, Midlands, UK
visit site»
serviced apartments
Staying Cool offers five star holiday and short stay apartments on the top two floors of the newly refurbished Rotunda in central Birmingham. The iconic cylindrical Rotunda building has defined the city skyline for over four decades and has just been stunningly refurbished. These stylish and spacious apartments have amazing views over the city through floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Round House Penhallow (The)
located: Penhallow, Perranporth, Cornwall, UK
self-catering | sleeps:2 | bedrooms:1
A former grain store converted to comfortable self-catering accommodation for two. It's surrounded by beautiful countryside and the popular beach resort of Perranporth is nearby. The property is on one level and offers one bedroom, open-plan lounge/kitchen/diner and a private enclosed patio with BBQ.
ENGLAND: The Round House, Suffolk
A unique holiday let with a fascinating history, in the past the cottage has been used as a shooting lodge and a gamekeepers cottage and has now been carefully restored using archived information and photos. The house is tucked away in a tranquil setting on the 1800 acre Ickworth Estate.
The cottage can accommodate up to six guests in three bedrooms. Guests benefit from free entry to Ickworth House and other selected National Trust properties in the area, and Ickworth's beautiful parkland is accessible to guests at all times.
SCOTLAND: Tinkerbell Cotttage in Angus
Tinkerbell is a quaint cottage for two set among the trees in the grounds of the Balnaboth Estate, on the edge of Cairngorms National Park. It makes a great romantic escape!
Tinkerbell is a unique, half-round building that has been converted from the original dairy. It offers an open-plan dining/sitting room with kitchen area and a first floor wood-panelled double guest bedroom with en-suite bathroom. There is a small shared sauna available for guests use, at Balnaboth House (extra charge).
See availability prices & full details»
Some interesting facts about roundhouses
The Travel-Quest roundhouse section includes any distinctive or noteworthy circular building that is now used as holiday accommodation of some sort, this includes a range of building types, including the following ...
• Traditional roundhouses: These date back to the Bronze and Iron ages and consisted of a circular thatched building constructed with stone or wooden post walls, joined by panels of wattle-and-daub. You might think you'd only come across such buildings in the history books, so you might be surprised to learn that you can stay in a reconstructed Iron Age roundhouse at a couple of locations in the UK. The accommodation is naturally rather basic, so a stay is more of a camping or living history experience than a comfortable weekend retreat (although some do have axillary facilities including hot tubs and barbecue huts!). Roundhouses with rentable accommodation include:
Bodrifty Farm, Cornwall»
Cae Mabon, North Wales»
Marthrown of Mabie, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland»
• Martello Towers: Martellos or Martello Towers are small forts built to deter Napoleonic invasion. Their design was inspired by a sturdy circular fortress built at Mortella Point in Corsica in the C16th. They are typically a circular building with two floors, thick walls and few windows; some larger ones have been built as a group. Many of the remaining Martellos have now got listed building status. A number of Martello Towers, and similar defensive buildings, have been converted and make unique holiday accommodation.
• Gin Gangs: Some farm round houses are old gin gangs, wheelhouses, horse mills or horse engine barns; these are round or polygon shaped buildings located beside threshing barns. Horses were walked around and around the horse mill to provide power for the farm machinery. Many a farm has now converted one of these to form part of a holiday cottage, their pleasing shape means they often get turned in a sitting or living room.
• Veryan round houses: The distinctive round houses in the village of Veryan, in Cornwall, were built in the C19th by a local vicar, to safeguard his daughters and the village from the devil – because there are no corners in a circular building in which he may hide! Extra protection is provided by the crucifix at the top. Some of the Veryan roundhouses can now be rented out as self-catering accommodation or stayed in as a B&B.
• Railway roundhouses: A roundhouse is also a circular building used as a turntable engine shed for housing and switching railway locomotives. We've yet to find any of these converted to holiday homes, but you can see Britain's last surviving working railway roundhouse at Barrow Hill Railway Centre in Derbyshire.
• Rotunda: A rotunda describes a building which has a circular or oval ground plan, usually creating a large open space. A rotunda is sometimes covered by a dome. It's a building style with its roots way back in history, one well known classical example is the Pantheon in Rome, but modern architecture still uses the style and the aptly named Rotunda in Birmingham is a well-known example (holiday apartments are available).
CATEGORY DEFINITION FOR TOUR OPERATORS WISHING TO BE LISTED:
The travel-quest roundhouse accommodation section is for listing circular and round holiday homes, bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels and guest houses.
Within each category the Travel-Quest Blue Directory includes a checked and edited listing of specialist holiday accommodation providers, sometimes with offers and deals for our readers, many of which are exclusive to this site. If you wish to add a listing to the accommodation providers directory use the Submit Site link in our site navigation.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Unless credited otherwise, any photos used on this page are copyright of the Travel-Quest Directory or of the companies listed. See our Photography Policy for more details (including any credits for photo collages). Any other specific credits for this page now follow. Links to any Licences are on our Photography Policy page.
Left: Kempt Tower by Acad Ronin (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Left: Bridge to the Martello Tower ©Flickr user: Mark Longair (CC)
Left: Veryan Roundhouse, Cornwall ©Flickr user: Matty Ring (CC)
Right, featured top: Ickworth Park (NT), The Round House ©Flickr user: Karen Roe (CC)
Right, article Iron Age Roundhouse: Cae Mabon ©Flickr user: Chris Booth (CC)
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