Surf and Turf: a duo of rugged and relaxing Wales

Showjumper Seren James on Saundersfoot Beach. Photograph by Sian Broderick

To celebrate the launch of our latest property, the midcentury Llareggub Beach House in Saundersfoot, west Wales, we are introducing Surf and Turf, a special winter break experience allowing you to explore Wales’ contrasting personalities – rugged and relaxing.

Rugged Wales in Powys

First you will spend three days at Red Kite Barn in rugged Powys, mid Wales. The barn sits in the middle of eighty rolling acres of woodland which cuts into the side of the remote Elenydd region, also known as the “desert of Wales” for its ruggedness and remoteness; you can walk for twenty miles over the hills to the abandoned monastery at Strata Florida and not see another soul.

Red Kite Barn in September

This is a place to blow away post-Christmas cobwebs and reconnect with nature. Wild walks over the hills, even wild swimming for the brave of heart, then a pint in a country pub.

Relaxing Wales in Pembrokeshire

Next, retire for R&R to our new midcentury beach house, Llareggub, in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire. The house overlooks the beach and harbour; a top-notch spa and incredible restaurants are within walking – or its that rolling? – distance of your front door. Pembrokeshire is quickly becoming Wales’ top foodie destination, with seafood trucks, micro-breweries and hip restaurants bursting out of every rockpool.

Midcentury interiors overlooking the ocean at Llareggub Beach House, Saundersfoot

Book your stay

During the off-peak season we are offering this experience (6 nights’ stay, self-catered) at £700 for a couple or £850 for up to four people. Get in touch with Anjana to arrange your Surf + Turf break.

Get Lost – to Red Kite Tree Tent

News of Red Kite Tree Tent has made it all the way Down Under, featuring in the latest issue of the Australian travel magazine, Get Lost, with a feature on “weird and wonderful places to stay”.

Flights of fancy on a wild Welsh weekend

"Sweeping views" and "awesome birds of prey" were highlights for Sankha Guha from The Independent.

“Everything except the sky is green. There must be 10,000 shades of green.”

— Sankha Guha, The Independent

It is as isolated as Angela Merkel would feel in Greece. From the barn there is literally no sight of human habitation. Later I discover the odd cottage hidden away within the woods and a sizeable farm just over the brow of the hill at the rear. But to all appearances, we are alone – magisterially commanding the sweeping views that stretch for miles around. Inside, the barn is equally eye-catching.

So it comes as no surprise that the interior of the barn is design-fabulous and about as un-rustic as a cottage in mid-Wales can be. The pool table, the wine cooler, the Bauhaus-inspired log burner, the Miele kitchen appliances, the Italian rocking sofa (yes, sofa), the stripped wooden floors and the three-metre-screen home cinema would not be out of place in a bachelor penthouse on the Isle of Dogs. Light floods into the colossal living room upstairs through substantial glass panels cut into the sides and the gable end – but instead of delivering a Manhattan-style skyline, the panorama serves as an ever present reminder of rural bliss. So far, so good.

Read the full article at: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/flights-of-fancy-on-a-wild-welsh-weekend-7833943.html

Red Kite Barn in the Guardian’s 50 Best Cottages

The Guardian has rounded up 50 of the best holiday cottages in the UK. Red Kite Barn, in its 80 acres of private woodland, was featured as one of the best holiday retreats for nature lovers.

"Named after the birds that sweep overhead, Red Kite Barn lies in a private forest north of Builth Wells in mid-Wales, surrounded by rolling hills. The traditional exterior hides a chic contemporary interior (and it’s eco-friendly too, with ground source heat pumps and wool wall insulation). The upstairs open-plan living area is flooded with light from windows on all sides, and downstairs there are three bedrooms (with beds rescued from London’s Savoy Hotel). But it’s the isolated location that’s the real winner: wrap up and enjoy a drink under the stars in the raised garden and forget about the rest of the world."

You can read the whole feature at: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/apr/16/best-uk-holiday-cottages-summer-2016