Last year, 2014, our extended family of 8, ranging from 12 - 80 years old, plus 2 dogs, had a break together in a wonderful cottage in Hay-on-Wye. It went so well that we decided that, rather than buying Christmas presents for each other this year, we would have another holiday together. We were so disappointed to find that our cottage in Hay-on-Wye was already booked as it had been perfect for all our needs and we were not confident that anywhere else could equal it.
How wrong could we be !! We’ve just spent the last week of October, half term, at Ganarew Cottage and had an absolutely marvellous time from start to finish. The cottage is exactly as lovely as it sounds in the site description, even lovelier than it looks in the photographs and from the outside you wouldn’t imagine just how spacious it is. As the online descriptions are so accurate there is no need to reiterate how very beautifully it has been refurbished and decorated or how everything facility wise is provided, but the following, are observations that made the cottage so good from our points of view.
The milk, tea bags, coffee, bread, jam and utterly delicious cake waiting for us on our arrival were such a nice touch. The pictures around the cottage are all lovely, including one of birds in the 3rd bedroom which is especially so, the lighting throughout is beautifully designed, dimmers on all the dining room and lounge lights to create exactly the mood required at whatever time of day or night and there are delightful light shades in the bedrooms some of which send lovely patterns onto the walls and ceilings. ( we are currently trying to find where we can buy a similar one ! )
In these days, where practically everyone travels with technology of one sort or another, there are plenty of power points all around so no struggle between having the bedside lamp on or charging your phone to tablet. Although warned on the website that mobile reception can be tricky at the cottage, we had no loss of service at all ( EE, Orange and GiffGaff ) and the wifi worked really well, making FaceTime calls possible all over the cottage ( except in the games room and the ensuite bedroom, but this wasn’t a problem ). Ganarew Cottage is a fabulous base to explore this part of the world, but even if you didn’t want to leave the cottage, the views from all the windows are beautiful and the overiding atmosphere of the cottage is peaceful and cosy and we found we were able to get a delivery from Sainsburys using their online order and delivery service. We made up an order from home, arrived late at night at the cottage and received the delivery by 7.45 the next morning. The driver had had no problems finding the cottage. The tap water at the cottage is delicious, no need for bottled water and the second fridge in the games room is a real bonus, very, very useful when you are a large party. Using a flier from the information desk in the cottage we ordered a meal from The Raduni Indian Restaurant and Take Away. They delivered to the cottage and it was an exceptionally lovely meal. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Ganarew Cottage and would be thrilled to think we’d make it back there again in the future.