A guest house beside Bristol Airport
A small guest house on Downside Road in Backwell, a short walk from Bristol Airport, with overnight parking and cereal and toast.
Choose it when the flight matters more than a night in the city. The airport is a walk away, overnight parking can be free if you book it ahead, and breakfast is cereal and toast.
Overview
The Cottage is a guest house on Downside Road, in Backwell. People stay because Bristol Airport is close, not because they want the harbourside. The Cottage Inn at Baltic Wharf is a different business, a pub in the city.
The rooms are compact doubles and one triple. You can walk to the terminal, leave a car overnight if you arrange it first, and have cereal and toast before an early flight. The lane is busy and poorly lit, so a short distance is not the same as an easy walk after dark.
The Cottage
You’ll complete your booking on Booking.com. Check final prices, availability and cancellation terms before confirming. We earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.
Use the A38 between the terminal and Downside Road. A map line past the Hilton is the wrong last stretch. Allow about 10 to 15 minutes, and longer with bags. Guests who arrived after dark describe a busy road, little lighting and pavement that stops and starts. A newer walking route from the airport has not been confirmed as open, so plan for the road as it is. There is no advertised collection from the terminal. With luggage at night, a taxi is the calmer choice.
Chairs and a table sit in front of the cottage, by a low stone wall, under the sign on the white wall. It is a place to pause with a bag, not a private garden beyond that seating. The house is old, the rooms sit close together, and you will hear other guests as well as the road.
Inside there is a leather sofa, a stone wall and a wooden settle. It feels like a shared room in a house, not a hotel lobby. There is no published reception desk and no evening meal. Breakfast is cereal and toast, and the rooms have a kettle.
Beyond the essentials
Karen is the name on the host profile, where she says she has been hosting since 2018. Travel Cottages Ltd manages the guest house. It is a hotel company with its registered office in Exeter, which does not show who owns the building, or that Karen lives on site.
The guest house is in Backwell, in North Somerset, beside Bristol Airport. Bristol is the postal town on the address. It is not a stay in the city centre, and it is not the Cottage Inn at Baltic Wharf.
Diamond Parking publishes this address as an office and uses a different telephone. For the guest house, use 0800 024 8847.
Verdict
Stay here for the airport, especially if you want the car nearby for one night. If you want the harbourside, Clifton, or a quiet room in the centre, pick another base. The walk is short. The road is not gentle after dark.
Rooms
Sleeps 2
1 double bed
This double sleeps two. The bathroom is private and has a shower, a toilet and a hairdryer. In the room there is a television, a kettle and space to sit. Smoking is not allowed.
Sleeps 2
1 double bed
This double also sleeps two, with a television, a kettle and space to sit. The saved details disagree on the bathroom: one account says it is shared and another says it is private. Check the room you select before you book, and do not assume a shower.
Sleeps 3
1 double bed and 1 single bed
The triple sleeps three, with one double bed and one single. The bathroom is private and has a shower and a hairdryer. There is a television and a kettle. No photograph of this room type is available yet.
Sleeps 2
1 double bed
This double sleeps two. The bathroom is shared. It is described with a toilet, towels and a hairdryer, and a shower is not part of that description. There is a television and a kettle. No photograph of this room type is available yet.
Facilities
Opens on Booking.com
Location
You are in Backwell, beside Bristol Airport, not in the centre of Bristol. The harbourside, Clifton and Temple Meads are a bus or a taxi away. The useful plan is the walk to the terminal, or a car you have arranged to leave here.
The CottageDownside Road, Bristol, BS48 3DZ
The address is Downside Road, Backwell, Bristol BS48 3DZ. The map names The Cottage at that postcode. It does not show which door, driveway or bay to use. Say what time you will arrive. Check-in runs from 15:00 until midnight, and check-out is by 10:00.
Follow the A38 rather than a route past the Hilton. Allow about 10 to 15 minutes, more with bags or in the dark. The pavement is patchy and the road is busy. There is no advertised pickup from the airport.
Opens on Booking.com
The operator describes about 10 to 15 minutes on the A38, not a route past the Hilton. The time is a walk without heavy bags in daylight. Guests report a dark road and incomplete pavement after dark. The map pin is the guest house, not a marked door.
Route detailsThe terminal is the destination that makes this guest house useful. The walk is about 10 to 15 minutes on the A38. After dark, treat it as a busy road with patchy pavement, not as a lit path.
A pub near the airport, separate from the guest house. The Cottage does not serve dinner. If you want a meal, check the tavern or eat before you arrive. It is not the Cottage Inn at Baltic Wharf.
The area
This is a night for the flight. If you are coming from Temple Meads, the Airport Flyer is the bus to the airport, and the walk along the A38 is the last part. Check the bus on the day you travel.
Nailsea and Backwell station is the nearest name on a rail map. It is not a stroll to the door, and it is not a step-free route to the guest house. When the flight is not the point, use the Bristol guide for the harbourside, Clifton and the centre.
Guest reviews
940 Guest reviews
The booking score is 7.5 from 940 reviews. People praise the airport location, a clean enough room and the simple breakfast. The complaints that keep returning are the dark walk, road noise and small bathrooms.
Guest feedback is paraphrased. Scores reflect the source on the date shown. September 26, 2026
Opens on Booking.com
Eva
Eva stayed as a couple and scored the night 7. A very late flight made a nearby bed more useful than driving on. She found the old building reasonably clean, then walked in on a road with no lighting, which she would not recommend. The bathroom was cramped, with the basin sitting over the toilet. Their room faced away from the street, and the busy road was still audible.
Gloria
Gloria stayed as a couple and scored 7. She found the stay dirty and noisy, and said the unlit road made the walk feel unsafe.
Sarah
Sarah stayed as a couple and scored 6. She reached the airport on foot in about 20 minutes. The road was unlit, the pavement was patchy, and she did not feel safe in the dark.
Louisa
Louisa stayed alone and scored 8. Her walk to the airport took about 10 minutes, so she skipped a taxi. The rooms were small and clean, and breakfast was there if she wanted it. She used the guest house the night before a flight and again on the way home. She hardly saw staff. On the morning she left, cleaning started next door around half past seven, the keys were on the table and the front door was unlocked. Other guests could be heard through the old walls. The lane at one in the morning was dark and had little footpath.
Chris
Chris stayed alone and scored 9. He wanted a bed near the airport for a very early flight. Breakfast was self-service, tea and coffee were in the room, and he said he would come back.
Mark
Mark stayed alone and scored 8. Being near the airport worked well for him. The only drawback he named was a small shower.
Debbie
Debbie stayed alone and scored 8. A woman who met the party was friendly, the breakfast set out was good, and cars at the rear were noisy, which she had expected at an airport stop.
Teeeebee
Teeeebee stayed alone and scored 9. Bags could be left before check-in, and returning after midnight was straightforward. Karen answered messages about luggage. The room was adequate, the bathroom small but usable, with free water, cereal and toast downstairs, and shampoo provided. The road stayed busy through the night. The toilet seat was loose, and a hook for a towel would have helped.
Explore the full reviews for more perspectives on staying here.
Opens on Booking.com
Photos
Opens on Booking.com
The practical details
The Cottage
Check-in is from 15:00 until midnight. Tell them what time you will arrive, because a special request for earlier or later is not a promise. Check-out is by 10:00. You get in with a key. Smoke alarms are fitted. Do not assume a staffed desk at every hour.
Cereal and toast are included. An older label called breakfast a buffet. Count on the lighter spread, and ask if your flight leaves before it is put out. There is no published end time.
Overnight parking is free when you reserve it with the stay. If the car remains while you are away, that is a separate charge. Where the car is kept, and what security applies, is not described, so ask for the current price and terms when you book. A valet option is named without saying what you hand over. Diamond Parking is a different company that uses this address. Do not call its number for a room.
Children can stay at any age. There are no cots or extra beds, so the room you book has to sleep everyone in the beds it already has. There is no minimum age for check-in.
Pets are not allowed. Nothing separate was published for assistance animals, so ask before you rely on one. Parties and similar events are not accepted. Payment shown for the stay is cash.
The house rules say smoking is not allowed. A facilities note also mentions a designated smoking area. Ask if you need to smoke, rather than assuming either way.
Cancellation and prepayment change with the room and the dates. Read them on the booking page before you pay. There is not one rule for every stay.
FAQs
No. The Cottage Inn is a pub at Baltic Wharf, Cumberland Road, in the centre of Bristol. This guest house is on Downside Road, BS48 3DZ, beside the airport, in Backwell.
Use the A38. Allow about 10 to 15 minutes without heavy bags. After dark the road is busy, poorly lit and short of continuous pavement. There is no advertised pickup from the terminal.
Overnight parking on the night you stay is free if you reserve it. Leaving the car for the trip itself is a separate charge. Ask where the car goes and what it costs before you hand over the keys.
Yes. It is cereal and toast, not a cooked buffet. Ask if you need it very early.
Yes, at any age. There are no cots or extra beds, so book a room that already sleeps your group. The triple has a double and a single.
No collection from the airport is advertised. You can walk, or take a taxi. Messages about a driver have appeared in older replies and do not add up to a published shuttle.
Yes. It is free throughout the guest house. No speed is published, so do not count on it for a long work call.