Waterside Cornwall Review | Self-Catering Lodges Near The Eden Project

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We started our February Half Term trip to Cornwall in the best possible way with a short stay at Waterside Cornwall. You'll find Waterside just off A30 outside of Bodmin and it's an ideal base for exploring Cornwall including the Eden Project (7 miles), the Lost Gardens of Heligan (15 miles), St Austell, Fowey and Mevagissey. Out of all of the places we stayed, Waterside was definitely the most central. Prices for a 3 bedroom lodge (sleeping up to 8) are available from £78 per lodge per night which I think is super reasonable. You can also pay a supplement and stay in a lodge with a hot tub and if there are less of you in the party, smaller lodges are available from £43 per lodge per night.

Waterside Cornwall - 3 bedroom lodge tour 

What I loved most about the lodges at Waterside Cornwall are just how spacious they were. We had SO much room and our lodge here (#41) is the biggest lodge we've ever stayed in. Our lodge featured a spacious entrance hall, large open plan living/kitchen/dining area, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, private parking and patio doors onto our own terrace with picnic table. 

I wouldn't describe the lodges at Waterside as particularly luxurious but they were fresh, clean and modern and had everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The kitchen was well equipped with full-size cooker, fridge-freezer, dishwasher and washer-dryer. We spent most of our money in Cornwall on eating out and if you're looking to save a bit of cash/visit on a budget, having such a well-equipped kitchen to cook in will definitely save you some pennies.

Our master bedroom was huge and even had a jacuzzi bath. Towels and toiletries were provided too and it really was a home from home.

There is free WiFi across the site which worked well and our 4G reception on EE was good here too.

Having three bathrooms at our disposal was such a treat for us (we only have one at home) and the showers were hot and powerful and the kind you don't want to leave in the morning. There are two baths too.

The lodges are well spaced out so you feel like you still have your privacy and although cars are allowed to drive around the site, there is just one road which operates a one-way system and has a 5 mph speed limit. We hardly saw any cars driving around if I'm honest and it was the kids on bikes we had to watch out for. There's plenty of grass for kids to play and I felt perfectly safe letting my three play hide and seek with the other children between the lodges here. The site is small-medium in size and I think it would be pretty difficult to get lost here. 

Waterside Cornwall - On-site activities 

I was really impressed with the abundance of activities on offer at Waterside. For a small-ish site, they certainly do pack a lot in. The grounds are beautiful and we enjoyed morning walks around the lakes and nature trail. Fishing is available if that's your kind of thing. We preferred to say hello to the resident ducks and geese. 

Waterside has it's own little play park with equipment which seemed like it was brand new. You can access the park from a lovely outdoor terrace over the lake (a favourite spot for morning coffee) or from the conservatory restaurant. Many families enjoyed letting the kids play out here as they finished their meal and the set up worked really well.

The main clubhouse is also home to a bit of a tween chill out/hang out area. Make sure you stock up on £1 coins to bring for the pool table and table football. There's also an XBox up here which impressed my three - you can hire games and controllers from reception free of charge if you leave a refundable deposit.

If the weather's good, you can enjoy a game of footgolf which seemed to be really popular in Cornwall or you can hire bikes and even take a segway tour which looked like lots of fun. If you're on holiday with adventurous kids, you certainly won't be bored here.

Inside of the main clubhouse has been tastefully decorated and there are several spaces to relax and unwind including a conservatory, bar, restaurant, lounge area and cafe. I loved the addition of plants in these areas and how they brought the outside in. Steve and I spent time in the lounge reading local magazines over a nice coffee whilst the kids were in the games room upstairs one afternoon and it was lovely. Such a fab use of space.

The swimming pool is free to use for guests staying at Waterside. I am the first to say that I'm not a fan of swimming with the kids - definitely not my favourite activity and I wasn't keen on the communal (single sex) changing rooms available here. I think it's the first place I've stayed where there is no option of an individual changing room. I also thought the parent-child ratio was super strict. Under 16s are not allowed in the pool without an adult and non-swimmers need to have a 1:1 parent-child ratio. This means if we'd have visited when our children were younger and unable to swim, we would not have been able to use to pool despite there being 2 grown-ups in our party. It also feels a bit ridiculous that a 15-year-old can't use the pool without an adult, especially when the pool is small and there's a lifeguard on duty (our local pools allow children aged 8+ to use the pool unsupervised). Despite my niggles though, we did really like the pool here and it was one of the warmest pools we've ever been in. They offer adult-only swimming later in the evening and I bet it's so peaceful swimming here in the dark. You can book various pool/gym sessions at waterside too if keep-fit is your thing.

Waterside Cornwall - Evening entertainment 

When our children were younger, we lived for mini disco. It's something which entertains the kids, tires them out before bed, is fun and gives the grown-ups a chance to enjoy a glass of wine. The evening entertainment on offer at Waterside would have been perfect for us a few years ago and the families with younger children seemed to really enjoy it. I think they used external entertainers and they certainly looked like fun/high quality. Unfortunately though, my three find this kind of thing to be pretty lame now though so it just wasn't for us - we preferred to watch movies back at the lodge and chill out instead. It's great that there's the choice to do both here.

Waterside Cornwall - Dining options 

There's a restaurant on-site at Waterside and we found it to offer very good value for money. They did run out of a few options during our stay but that was our only issue. All of the food was freshly prepared and of a very high standard. I couldn't believe the value if I'm honest. Normally, holiday parcs will charge through the roof for food and drinks because they can get away with it OR the quality will be poor but that certainly wasn't the case here.

There are some incredible offers to be had at the Waterside clubhouse restaurant including kids eat free between 4-6pm and during our stay two people could enjoy afternoon tea and a glass of prosecco each for just £7.50 pp. I don't think there is a better value afternoon tea anywhere in the UK. It was lovely too (pre-booking advised). I would honestly book to eat at Waterside even if I wasn't staying here.

Our favourite menu was the dinner a la carte which offered 3 courses for £20.95 - the food was of such good quality and just like eating out in a city centre restaurant. If you fancy something a little more casual there's a pizza menu and even a sneaky Cornish pasty, chips and beans on the bar menu too. Eating on-site really is recommended and if we were to stay here again, I think the mix of self-catering accommodation plus being able to eat out on your doorstep at such a good price is a winning combination. You can also eat breakfast in the restaurant. Here are some of our foodie highlights from the restaurant/bar at Waterside Cornwall: 

Waterside Cornwall - Location 

I mentioned in the introduction to this post that Waterside's location is very central. Out of all the places we stayed in Cornwall, Waterside was definitely the best location for exploring Northern Cornwall. You are just off the A30 which is the main road running through Cornwall and pretty equidistance from both the East and West coast. Padstow, the Eden Project, Mevagissey and the Lost Gardens of Heligan are some of the places we visited which were in very easy reach.

The Eden Project 

Click here to read 10 Reasons to Visit the Eden Project 

The Lost Gardens of Heligan 

Mevagissey Harbour 

Padstow Harbour 

Waterside Cornwall - All you need to know 

I would 100% recommend staying at Waterside Cornwall and using it as a base. We could have happily stayed here for a full week. I loved the mix of spacious, well-equipped lodges with a fantastic range of facilities on your doorstep and a cracking restaurant too. Sometimes accommodation in Cornwall can come at a premium but I really think Waterside offers excellent value. If I was to book again, I think I'd stay for longer and book a lodge with a hot tub for that extra luxurious touch.

You can find out more about Waterside Cornwall and book online here.

Looking for other posts from Cornwall? How about these:

• 10 Reasons to Visit the Eden Project
• Driving to Cornwall from Newcastle - our itinerary 

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