Pool, hot tub, gardens and grounds
There’s terrace seating for ten and benches for nine beneath the wheeling red kites above. Get sizzling your steak on the gas barbecue as the kids invade the children’s play lawn.
Explore the shared spaces in form of the games room where you’ll be battling it out with your pals on the air hockey or pool tables, or is table tennis more your game? There’s one of those too. Dive into the shared indoor pool for a few 15-metre lengths and some splashing good fun.
As darkness drops and the stars come out to play, pile into the hot tub for a front-row seat on the ever-expanding galaxy.
Living spaces
Everything here comes built around a central courtyard, a top spot for a morning coffee, and everywhere else is as sociable or as solitary as the mood takes. Congregate or segregate as you wish in two sitting rooms and a quiet conservatory that’s built for books after you’ve dealt with the dinner dishes.
Down in the basement, there’s fun to be had in the purpose-built cinema room with surround-sound. Get together for Netflix on the smart TV or bring your password for Amazon Prime Video. Next door, the games room’s great for table football or alternative viewing on one of nine smart TVs you’ll find around the house.
No shortage of reception rooms here. The drawing room comes with cosy log burner and there’s even a music room for budding pianists. If that’s not you, ask the owner to play for you. Keep the atmosphere upbeat with the piped radio that plays in every room. Get even more competitive in the garden games room complete with air hockey, pool and table tennis.
Cooking and dining
The kitchen’s fully equipped and completely lovely, but you can’t take it home with you. It’s bolted in. Cook on four ovens and up to 12 burners and eat in the huge conservatory with its valley views. Or call up our chef for a one-off knees-up or a fully catered break. Shop at Tesco or Aldi in Newtown.
There’s a gas barbie for fans of bangers and burgers and plenty of space beneath big skies to enjoy the al-fresco fare. Takeaways? Tuck into fish and chip suppers from Caersws Fish Bar, Chinese from Fortune Court or New Welcome, or Indian from Gulshan or Raj Mahal. Enzo’s in Newtown’s the place for kebabs.
Head out to pubs such as The Bull and Heifer in Bettws Cedewain for pulled Welsh lamb shoulder, The Nag’s Head in Garthmyl for lentil ragu or beer-battered halloumi burger, or The Kerry Lamb for a Sunday carvery, pizza, vegan curry or grilled chicken- breast burger.
Restaurants include La Terrazza Bistro, an Italian with wine bar and coffee house with vegan options. Go for the buttered calamari or homemade pizzas at the Waggon and Horses. Enjoy jerk-chicken goujons at 23 Social’s popular grill, complete with roof terrace. Or try the seriously posh nosh at Upper Rectory or Michelin-starred Ynyshir.
Bedrooms
Severn Valley Manor sleeps 16 in eight bedrooms with additional beds for an extra three. For super-large celebrations, ask about the two other cottages on site. Bedrooms here are fabulous, with mountain views and all the quiet you’d expect in a rural Welsh valley. Move quickly to bag the rolltop baths, power showers and balcony bedroom.
Bedroom one is a double with en-suite shower room, while bedroom two offers a superking or twins, thanks to zip-and-link, with en-suite. Bedroom three is the same and interlinks with bedroom one. En-suite bedrooms four, five and six are all superkings that convert to twins.
Bedroom seven is a kingsize with en-suite and bedroom eight on the ground floor is also a kingsize with its own wet room along the corridor.
The basement houses a double sofa bed and additional z-bed for the three extra guests, taking the house up to full capacity of 19.
Children welcome
Put in a call to Uncle Tom Cobley: there’s plenty of room for the whole extended family at Severn Valley Manor. With room for 19 in eight sumptuous bedrooms, kids will feel like they’re bringing home with them. When they get here, there’s plenty to explore and enough toys and games to make mischief all week.
Splash about in the indoor swimming pool and kids over 12 can stay wet with a dip in the hot tub, there’s a play lawn for letting off the steam that results. Back inside, make it a Netflix night in the basement cinema with surround-sound, or pop next door for board games and table football. Rock around the house with the piped radio.
Escape the grown-ups in the conservatory or music room with piano. And sleep deeply in super-comfy beds that convert from super kings to family-friendly twins.
What people say
Swoop, dive and ride
Watch red kites swoop and dive for dinner at Gigrin Farm and stick around for the mountain-bike trails. Cycle the Rheidol Trail from Devil’s Bridge to Aberystwyth. Brave King Arthur’s Labyrinth, enjoy cuddle heaven at Fantasy Farm Park, ride the Rheidol Railway and find a petrified forest on Borth beach.
