There’s one acre of garden to explore plus two acres of grazing where a small flock of Hebridean sheep quietly graze against the backdrop of the River Severn. The grounds offer picnic-friendly English lawns, mature trees and there are pears and plums in the orchard as well as blackcurrants and raspberries in the fruit cage. If they’re ripe, help yourself.
Walk the lawns before lunch or lay back and relax on a hammock. Dig out the boules and croquet gear. Eat al fresco with steak from the gas barbie and cold Prosecco from the outdoor fridge. Pile into the hot tub beneath the swallows and the big skies and soak up the silence.
If you can’t relax here, you won’t relax anywhere. Living spaces at Severn Lodge are a tribute to the owners flair for colour and design: a haven of chunky skirting boards, deep carpets, chandeliers and ceiling roses. Thick curtains skim the floor and the fire crackles as you settle in for the night with board games or blockbusters.
There are spaces here to relax and reacquaint with family, friends or hens. Or spaces to escape to, like the snug. Raid the bookcase or the DVD collection, or just put on your headphones and zone out awhile to Spotify. The wifi zips around with the help of extenders and there’s Netflix and Freeview on tap.
Head to the games room to compete over table tennis or table football, or belt out your favourite tunes on the karaoke with disco lights. Let the younger kids play with the building blocks and the bears. Pick from two 55-inch TVs for your evening entertainment or switch off and chat. Like the old days.
Severn Lodge’s spaces are a study in calm and serenity, a place to zone out from the world and tune in to each other awhile. Be as active or inactive as you wish. Book a chef, a pamper party or a murder-mystery night, or just bring a book and relax your grip on life. There’s something for everyone at this house.
Make like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall with fresh fare from the Seven & Wye Smokery and Hanley Farm Shop. Pick apples, pears and plums from the orchard.
Eat around the long table that seats 26 in the supreme elegance of the panelled dining room. Or add the other table for enough chairs to feed a cricket match. Light the candles, butter the bread, pour the wine. Be together. There is a dining table which comfortably seats 8 in the conservatory, as well as a 20-seater table for informal dining out on the terrace.
If lifting a finger seems just too hard, simply summon a local chef for a one-off celebration or fully catered break. Or just pop over the road en-masse to the traditional charm and roaring fires of The Globe. Will it be wild-boar pâté, Thai-spiced crabcakes, Wye-Valley ale-battered cod, or spinach and ricotta cannelloni?
Drive to Newland, to eat à la carte on lamb Wellington, rack of Welsh lamb or turbot fillet at The Ostrich. Head out to the Anchor Inn, right by Tintern Abbey, for fresh, locally sourced food in amazing surroundings. Or book well ahead for the taste of a Michelin star and four AA Rosettes at The Whitebrook in the Wye Valley.
Severn Lodge comes with seven sumptuous bedrooms sleeping 20, including 3 on large sofa beds. In the clear country air, you’ll sleep on a cloud. Or at least on deep, comfy mattresses between crisp cotton sheets.
The main bedroom is the Cherry, with a superking-sized bed and large king-size sofa bed. Freshen up in the luxury en-suite bathroom with shower and bath. The Hazel offers a king-size and single bed plus en-suite bathroom with shower. And The Ash comes with en-suite shower bathroom and another superking that can be split into singles.
Willow offers another superking plus a single sofa bed and en-suite bathroom with shower and bath. The Maple (two singles) and Acorn (king-size double) are king-size rooms that share a shower bathroom. Finally, the Elm on the ground floor offers a king-size bed and en-suite bathroom with shower.
At Severn Lodge there’s something for everyone. Let the kids explore the two acres of sprawling gardens and grounds. Or head to the games room to compete over table tennis or table football complete with a mini disco, or let the younger kids play in the adjoining room with the building blocks and the bears
Apart from the extensive grounds, there are plenty other opportunities for kids to go wild in the country here. You can start at Monmouth Canoe and Activity Centre, paddling up to 100 miles from Glasbury to Tintern on short-term or multi-day hire. Or keep the adventure going at Beechenhurst’s trails, towers and tunnels.
Enjoy some high-octane monkey business in the trees and on the zip wires of Go Ape in the Forest of Dean. Ride horses at Severnvale Equestrian Centre. Shoot your pals with paint or try military-simulation game airsoft at Forest of Dean Paintballing and Airsoft.
