One of The Observer's 50 Essential Travel Websites

Quick search

Inspire me

Browse maps

Orkney Islands East Highland North Highland Western Isles, Isle of Lewis Angus, Dundee Aberdeenshire, East Grampians Perth and Kinross, Grampians Easter Ross, Moray, Inverness East Mull, North Argyll and Bute, South Highland Highland, Wester Ross, East Skye Highland, Western Isles, West Skye Isle of Mull, Isle of Coll Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Cheviot Hills, Berwick-upon-Tweed Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway Edinburgh, Lothian, Fife Glasgow, South Stirling, East Argyll and Bute, North Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire, Southern Uplands Mull of Kintyre Jura, Islay, Argyll and Bute North Lincolnshire, Kingston upon Hull East Riding of Yorkshire, Scarborough York, South and West Yorkshire North Yorkshire, Darlington, Middlesborough, South Durham Manchester, Merseyside, Blackpool, South Lancashire Cumbria, The Pennines Holy Island, Isle of Anglesey Isle of Man South Suffolk, East Essex Norfolk Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire Lincolnshire, Rutland, Peterborough, West Norfolk Worcestershire, Warwickshire, North Gloucestershire, North Oxfordshire Staffordshire, South Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Birmingham Powys, West Herefordshire East Gwynedd, South Conwy, Denbighshire, West Cheshire, Shropshire Gwynedd, Wales West Coast Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion Southend, Dover, East Kent Brighton, East Sussex, West Sussex London, North Surrey, North Kent Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight West Berkshire, Swindon, Hampshire, West Surrey Dorset, East Devon, Bournemouth North Somerset, West Wiltshire, Bristol, Newport North Devon, Exmoor, West Somerset South Devon, Dartmoor, Plymouth, East Cornwall North Cornwall North Cornwall West Cornwall

Special Escapes: Self-catering in the UK

New owners

If you are an owner of a self-catering property anywhere in Britain that you think is special enough to be included on this website, we'd love to hear from you. Choose from one of the options in the menu on the right to find out more.

Existing owners

Here you can edit your contact and price details, add owner highlights, photo captions and additional search terms, and update your owner notice board. You can view statistical counts of your entry's visits and set up a link from your own website directly to your Special Escapes entry. To log in, you will need the username and password emailed to you when your entry was first uploaded. If you have forgotten your password, follow the link below get it sent to you by email.

Login

Read on

What our owners say about us

"It has been a delight being part of the Alastair Sawday Special Escapes and we have met so many wonderful and like minded people through this association the priority for them and for us is quality - to provide something different and see guests fully appreciate the location, the aesthetics and the tranquillity our little haven offers, gives us great satisfaction and combines to give our guest a memorable break. Being selected as a Special Escape destination has undoubtedly contributed to the success of our business."

Mair, Special Escapes owner, Glamorgan

"I would like to thank Special escapes for the great website they run which works brilliantly well for us. It seems to attract the type of people who really appreciate what we have here and feedback we get is that generally Special -Escapes , once found, offers visitors real credibility in that they know that booking a holiday featured will bring certain standards of qulity ,care and service to them ' - Thanks again"

Valerie, Special Escapes owner, Cornwall

"We are ecstatically happy with SE - and don't advertise anywhere else. About 80% of our booking come from SE and the rest is word of mouth. Many couples come back again and again - we have to disappoint SO many poor people by saying we're all booked up!"

Jilly, Special Escapes owner, Devon

"We have been on the Special Escapes website for a couple of years and have found our bookings have increased greatly. From the beginning, we have found the Alistair Sawday team a pleasure to deal with and a great support. They put a wonderful entry together on the website and we liked the fact that there was a flat rate for the entry rather than a commission taken."

Special Escapes owner, Edinburgh

"Just wanted to thank you and everyone at Sawdays for a very successful year. Special Escapes seems to be more and more popular - I have had a fantastic response in the past 6 months - more than last year - It is such a joy being able to change and update with news oneself..."

Fiona, Special Escapes owner, Norfolk

"We have been delighted to be with Sawdays and get a lot of people through you. We find that in Google Analytics your site is consistently near the top of our referrers. - We're grateful!"

Marion, Special Escapes owner, Derbyshire

"...we should like to renew our membership for another two years - it has been very good for us and we have had some nice visitors who have sent us some glowing letters of appreciation."

Mrs Walker, Special Escapes owner, Cornwall

"We thought you might like to know we have already had one couple to stay and two other confirmed bookings. So thank you very much, we are really pleased with our start with Special Escapes."

Peter, Special Escapes owner, Conwy

"We're getting so much business through your site, I just can't thank you enough."

Vanessa, Special Escapes owner, Cumbria

"We are pleased to say that much of our business this year has come through Sawdays - so thank you for the good job you do in promoting us."

Andrew and Kit, Special Escapes owners, Cumbria

"...we've had our best season ever and our subscription paid for itself in the first month of working with you!"

Sarah, Special Escapes owner, Yorkshire

What our readers say about us

"In this packaged, global world, what a joy it is to meet genuine people, to honestly benefit local economies and spend an entire week free from tourism and its trappings. We marvel again that the Alastair Sawday club has remained so loyal, and so true to its original ideals.

We are, as ever, unsure whether to share our delight with friends, or to guard yet another collection of Alastair Sawday secret places."

Christopher & Judie Welsh, Worcester

What the press say

"Alastair Sawday's Special Escapes: in Top Ten links for affordable UK Holidays. Alastair Sawday’s travel guides (see www.sawdays.co.uk) have a reputation for finding exceptional places to stay in the UK and abroad, and this offshoot specialises in self-catering in Britain. These are no ordinary holiday cottages, but “quirky, comfortable, independent places run by people who care."

The Telegraph online, January 2009

"British 'place to stay' guru, AS recommends the UK and Europe's cosiest, prettiest self-catering properties."

Ideal Home, March 2008

"AS's brilliant travel guides are also online. This one has beautiful self-catering ideas across Britain but also visit Sawdays.co.uk for other ideas from the same excellent company."

Easy Living, 2006