Tudor Farmhouse

Where the Forest of Dean meets the Wye valley, rustic Tudor charm meets modern boutique hotel style at Hari and Colin Fell’s converted farmhouse, cider house and barn. The setting is bucolic, amid a small farm with sheep, ponies, chickens and runner ducks. Inside, the ‘superbly run place’ has been ‘sensitively converted with tasteful decor’. Four categories of bedrooms (from Hatchling to suites, via Hen and Cockerel) have exposed beams, subtle paint finishes, an espresso machine, a minibar fridge, Bramley bath products. ‘Our comfortable room had a roll-top bath and modern shower.’ A hen room has bunk beds for kids in an alcove; a cockerel room has a four-poster. ‘Such a warm welcome,’ reads a typical reader report this year. ‘We felt like family. Standards superb, rooms, food, garden, service.’ Another reader, who has visited half a dozen times, reports that ‘the food is as good as ever, if not better’. Ingredients are sourced close to home for dishes such as aged beef sirloin with braised cheek or potato herb gnocchi with celeriac and truffle. ‘Our favourite place for a short break.’ (Ann McCormack, Anne Dudley, Andrew Kleissner)