Family becomes first to stay in wombat-inspired B&B in Somerset

Amanda Willis, aged 48 from Exeter, won the overnight stay after winning a UK competition to celebrate top holiday mishaps. Instead of jetting off on holiday with a bag full of clothes, she jetted off with a suitcase full of her nan's knitted blankets.

As a reward for the blunder, Amanda and her family were given a stay at Compare the Market's marsupial-inspired B&Burrow, located in the Mendip Hills.

Carl the wombat, a much-loved Compare the Market character, is prone to mishaps, which inspired the competition.

The B&B sleeps six and has tunnel-style living chambers, as well as a crawl-through child's entrance and a cube-shaped loo. Wombats are the only species in the world to produce square-shaped poo.

Speaking further about the competition, Amanda said: "I had a suitcase of knitted blankets belonging to my late nan in my hallway.  

The B&B sleeps six. (Image: Compare the Market)

“As she’d recently passed away, I was going to take them to a charity shop. 

“That very same winter, I excitedly headed off on a trip to Tenerife with my then boyfriend.  

“When I arrived, I eagerly unzipped my luggage only to discover that I had mistakenly taken the wrong bag."

Many residents across Somerset have also experienced travel blunders.  Alexandra Gossage, aged 34 from Taunton, who is staying in a separate Compare the Market burrow with members of her family, said her £30 return tickets to Bruges ended up costing her an extra £540 after getting the return times mixed up. 

Alexandra said: “A decade ago, as a financially strapped student, I meticulously planned my first trip with my boyfriend to Bruges, just before Christmas. 

“We secured bus tickets for a mere £30 each for a round trip, which felt like an incredible bargain at the time.  

“However, the excitement of our adventure was momentarily overshadowed on December 23 at 3.00pm when I suddenly realised I had made a booking error.  

“I had mistakenly reserved the bus journey back for 00:00 on the same day—essentially, the very beginning, not the end of December 23. This meant we had already missed our return trip."

Ursula Gibbs, director at Compare the Market, said: “Lots of us have had travel mishaps - or ‘wombat moments’ as we’ve affectionately coined them - where we’ve accidentally dug ourselves into a hole!  

“Our research of 2,000 adults found nearly half (46 per cent) said they had fallen foul – be that from booking tickets on the wrong dates, to missing flights entirely."