Old Great Marlborough House

This large holiday home on the Welsh side of the English-Welsh border offers a rural retreat for up to 22 guests. It has 10 en-suite bedrooms, a wood-fired hot tub, a tennis court, a pool table and kitchens both indoors and out. It’s all set in three acres on the edge of the Black Mountains and Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park. Add all this together and you have a great place to stay with top views and excellent walks nearby. Old Great Marlborough House certainly lives up to its name.

This old Welsh farmhouse has been restored and converted to provide self-catering accommodation for groups of family and friends. Its location means it’s best for those who enjoy the outdoors, but in truth, you could spend your whole holiday right here. The views are big enough to gaze on for hours, the gardens large enough for a wander, and the house is certainly a good size to spread out in – but then, the whole idea of the place is to bring your loved ones together. To that end, there’s a huge living room and conservatory, a large dining room and a long table in a country kitchen that’s big enough to cater for all. Not to mention the fun nooks and crannies – the playroom, the games room in the cellar and another space with table tennis and soft play upstairs, making this an ideal family-friendly holiday home.

The bedrooms are spread across three floors. A suite and a self-contained lodge, each with two connected bedrooms, are accessed from the ground floor and ideal for groups with young children. A further five double bedrooms, a twin and a bunk room complete the accommodation upstairs. Each is individually decorated: some have beds under beams, others have antique furniture; all feel right for a farmhouse in the country. There’s an option for smaller groups to rent six of the bedrooms (and all of the facilities) at a lower charge too.

Old Great Marlborough House is family owned and run and the larder has even been stocked from the family farm. The freezer is full of bacon, sausages and meat reared half an hour up the road. You can pick and choose what you want to use and pay for it after your stay. But if you don’t fancy cooking, you can stomp with your gang to The Angel Inn, two miles away in Grosmont, or take a drive to the Townley family’s other enterprise, The Bull’s Head, just over the border in Herefordshire. There’s good walking there too, and seven miles beyond is the book town of Hay-on-Wye. It’s well worth the drive, but closer still is lovely Abergavenny, just 10 miles south of your holiday home, and brimming with places to eat, drink and shop.