Drovers Rest Farm Stay

Beautiful tents. So clean and friendly.

Lovely location, friendly hosts and great for the kids to feed the animals!

This site has the best price for a bell tend near Hay Festival, which is a book festival that runs 2 weeks annually in Hay on Wye, Wales. Accommodations for Hay Festival in town are challenging and costly for any category, so this was the best deal with 2 months lead time. The bell tent was clean and dry and we managed to sleep well with a 2x comforters despite 10oC nighttime temps with wind and rain during our 4 night stay, which is likely typical for May. There were about 6 bell tents that were well spread out on a farm field with a gate. There were individual huts with toilets 2x male and 2x female, showers (4x unisex) and a fully equipped came kitchen with a propane stove and plenty of utensils, pots and pans, and a fridge we could use. We were using the site to access the Hay Festival in Hay on Wye, and it was about 20 min on a single track farm road to get to the site. This is less of a problem than it sounds as there was virtually no traffic on the access road. We only had one point where we needed to back up to get to a wider spot to let a truck pass. Similar bell tent facilities were available within walking distance of the Hay Festival. The advantage of the Drover's Rest is that it was a quiet, uncrowded site. The farm was charming, with the most friendly farm cat we ever met, and equally friendly ponies who came over to check us out as we walked to a from the field with the tents. Also Llamas and runner ducks from more of a distance. So it's quite a nice site and it might use it again, but might try to do it in time to try out the proper Glamping!

Our bell tent had a double bed and two twin beds in boxes on the ground with a coarse carpet (perhaps woven hemp) underneath. So was bit cluttered as we only needed the double bed. Linens and two comforters were provided and were fine for cool nights. We were told to bring towels and we should have also brought bathmats as the mats in the shower stalls were mostly soaked (communal). The showers did have warm water, but were on a push button timer giving about 10 second per push. The facilities in the bell tent field generally reminded me of summer camps I had attended growing up. My wife and I were a bit old to enjoy it! We saw the wash house for the Glamping tents. So keep in mind for this establishment that bell tents are really almost like real camping with a bed (not Glamping), whereas the Glamping looks more like a a detached hotel room with a bbq and heat, etc. So likely a totally different experience. Might try this next time around!

Beds and bedding very comfortable

Cold and damp. Microwave in tent or air fryer would have helped with catering Too far to toilets at night time I was too old for this and was misled by the marketing Did expect some sort of food and drink provision on site especially during the Festival

We liked the friendly and relaxed owners and mixing in with other international guests and staff. The location was beautiful and the wandering dogs, ducks and wild ponies heightened every walk through the farm which is beautifully laid out The braai on Saturday night is a treat.

We stayed in the bell tents which were very noisy due to the high winds. Very comfortable bed linen and snug.

close to the nature. chance to feed and understand various kinds of animals in the farm.

a bit narrow to drive to the farm, a bit pricey, maybe because of the festival

Exceptionally comfortable beds -& very well equipped kitchen, thank you

Great accommodation and location. Helpful friendly staff. We didn't get to use the amenities but they looked fabulous.

There was nothing we didnt like.

Absolutely beautiful

Nothing it was perfect