latedeals hothotels 7 DAYS TRAVEL

late deals
BENIDORM
STAY for seven nights at the
two-star, La Era Park Apartments in
Benidorm, Costa Blanca on a
self-catering basis. Departing from
East Midlands on March 9, the £310
per person price is based on two
adults sharing and includes a 22kg
baggage allowance and transfers.
Visit jet2holidays.com, call 0800 408
5594, or visit your travel agent.
CYPRUS
THOMSON offers seven-night
holidays to Cyprus staying at the
4T+ Hotel Atlantica Bay Thomson
Couples Resort on a half-board
basis, from £495 per person (saving
£145 per person). Price is based on
two adults sharing, and includes
flights from East Midlands on March
5 and transfers. Visit a Thomson
travel shop, thomson.co.uk or call
0871 230 2555.
COSTA DEL SOL
A THREE-STAR stay at the Sol
Timor on the Costa Del Sol,
Torremolinos, for seven nights,
room-only, costs £330 per person
based on two adults sharing.
Departing from Newcastle on March
6, the price includes a 22kg baggage
allowance and transfers. Visit
www.jet2holidays.com, freephone
0800 408 5594, or visit your travel
agent.
REYKJAVIK (above)
BROADWAY TRAVEL
(broadwaytravel.com, 0800 011
4621) offers three nights B&B at the
Hotel Klettur in Reykjavik from £299
per person (two sharing) – saving
more than 45%. Includes return
flights from various UK airports on
selected dates in October and
November.
LANZAROTE
FLY to Puerto Del Carmen,
Lanzarote, and stay at the two-star,
Panorama Apartments for seven
nights, self-catering. Departing from
Newcastle on March 6, the price is
£388 per person based on two adults
sharing, including a 22kg baggage
allowance and transfers. Visit
jet2holidays.com, freephone 0800
408 5594, or visit your travel agent.
TOP BREAK
CHINA
VIRGIN Holidays Worldwide
Journeys (virginholidaysjourneys.co.uk;
0844 225 1235) offers the 15-day Splendours
of China trip through Shanghai, Suzhou,
Beijing, The Great Wall of China, Xi’an,
Terracotta Warriors, Chengdu, Guilin and
Hong Kong for £2,449pp (two sharing) saving
up to £250pp. Includes accommodation on
mixed board basis, sightseeing and flights
from London. Departs May 9.
7 DAYS
TRAVEL
Break’s a real barnstormer
CATHERINE
VONLEDEBUR
and family go
country – in a rock
’n’ roll sort of way
■ Hall Barn Farm on the slopes of Sugar Loaf Mountain,
below, and the well-provided country kitchen, right
N
ESTLED on the
southern slopes of
Sugar Loaf
Mountain is Hall
Barn Farm. It
sounds like something out of a
children’s storybook.
But this secluded scenic spot
is real. What’s more, it’s where
my husband, three children and
I spent five peaceful nights of the
school summer holiday,
surrounded only by fields and
sheep. And did I mention a little
rock ’n’ roll?
Our stay coincided with Wales’
award-winning Green Man
Festival just four miles away in
Glanusk.
Instead of a festival tent, we
pitched up at Jane and Richard
Powell’s five-star eco-friendly
stone barn, located on their
organic sheep and cattle farm in
between Crickhowell and
Abergavenny.
Right on the doorstep of the
wild and beautiful Brecon
Beacons National Park, it offers
glorious views.
Jane welcomed us in person,
bringing with her fresh local
produce for a full Welsh
breakfast, including fresh
free-range eggs from her own
farm.
The award-winning barn
sleeps five comfortably and has
an annexe opposite with a
games room and an extra double
for additional guests.
Our master bedroom, with its
king-size bed, had lovely views
over the farm’s lush fields, while
the girls’ twin room looked
through the woods to the valley
below. A smaller single room
with sloping ceiling and roof
window was a perfect hideaway
for our 12-year-old son.
A nice touch was the
hand-made Sugar Loaf soap for
guests – made in a barn at the
foot of the mountain!
In the living room Jane
provided us with wood in case
we wanted to light a fire in the
wood-burning stove.
Although there’s a lovely
enclosed garden, the children
also had the freedom to run wild
in the surrounding fields.
We spent the first two days of
our holiday at Green Man,
exploring the fields and stages
ranging from the main Mountain
Stage – framed by the Black
Mountains – to the intimate
Walled Garden and Einstein’s
■ The Little Folk club at the
Green Man Festival, right
■ Festival-goers marvel at the
Green Man, left, and the effigy
goes up in flames, above
Garden, set among leafy arbours
and fragrant rose gardens, where
adults and children can join in
scientific experiments.
Green Man is one of the most
family friendly festivals, with 14
stages, 1,500 performers and a
24-hour programme including
comedy, poetry, literature,
cinema tent, art installations,
Little Folk for under-12s and a
separate new area, Somewhere,
just for 13 to 17-year-olds.
There’s also the Nature
Nurture field with its alternative
therapies, yoga and all-night
bonfires, including the annual
burning of the Green Man effigy
on the final night, accompanied
by fireworks.
Green Man Rising – a
showcase stage for unknown
talents – is sited by a pond in the
Fortune Falls arts space, and
looked lovely lit up in the dark.
What started off in 2003 as a
one-day event for 300 people is
now one tof he biggest music
festivals in Wales, showcasing
diverse genres.
A few of the acts we caught
included Velvet Underground’s
TRAVEL FILE
■ CATHERINE VONLEDEBUR
visited Brecon Beacons as a
guest of Rare Hideaways.
■ Hall Farm Barn is a
member of Rare Hideaways –
a collection of the best
self-catering properties to be
found in Wales.
For a free copy of the 2014
brochure call 01570 470 785
or click
www.rarehideaways.co.uk
■ Stays at Hall Farm Barn,
which sleeps five people, cost
from £750 per week,
including local breakfast
provisions for the first
morning, bed linen, towels,
soaps, tea and coffee. The
courtyard bedroom sleeps a
further two people for an
additional £150 per week.
■ Short stays are also
available from £400 for five
people. Call 0800 103 2581
or visit hall-farm-barn.co.uk
■ Early Bird Tickets are now
on sale for Green Man 2014,
which runs from August 14 to
17, at www.greenman.net.
For general tourist tips head
to www.breconbeacons.org
John Cale, The Horrors, British
Sea Power and half of Ben
Howard – until the youngest fell
asleep on my shoulder. A
magical weekend.
As we’d splashed out on two
days of festival food we decided
to eat in for the rest of the week.
Brecon Beacons has a
reputation for gourmet produce
and pubs, with the annual food
festivals at Abergavenny and
Brecon firmly on the foodies’
calendar.
Close to the farm, John and
Margaret Morris make organic
apple juice in a shed next to
their home outside Crickhowell,
using fruit from orchards within
a 20-mile radius. In Crickhowell
itself, the owners of Black
Mountain Gold artisan chocolate
have opened a shop and run
chocolate workshops.
A 10-minute drive in the
opposite direction gets you to
Abergavenny, which has
independent food shops as well
as three supermarkets.
Popular places to eat include
The Bear at Crickhowell, where
we sat in the flower-filled beer
garden for a drink, Llanwenarth
Hotel and Riverside Restaurant
on the banks of the River Usk,
and The Crown at Pantygelli.
‘Brecon Beacons has a reputation for gourmet
produce and pubs’ – Catherine Vonledebur
The latter is easy to cycle to
from the barn – but a bit of a
steep ride back.
Following two days of festival
fun we wanted a lazy day. After a
long lie-in we stocked up on
food, cooked a Sunday lunch as
the kids entertained themselves
in the courtyard, played board
games, and watched telly.
In the evening, as the sun set
over the valley, all five of us
raced around the house playing
Block 1,2,3 – a crazy hide-andseek from our childhood. Not
something you can normally
play in a city suburb.
There’s more than enough to
keep a family entertained
without even leaving the farm.
One morning we switched on
the slow cooker in the
well-provided country kitchen,
walked out of our front door and
climbed Sugar Loaf Mountain.
Halfway up we stopped for a
picnic and to admire the views.
Our four-year-old daughter did
well but needed a piggy-back
towards the top. But it was worth
it – the views were breathtaking
and gave us all a sense of
achievement.
Back down there was no
stopping the kids; they ran most
of the way.
We were there and back in
just under three hours, ready for
tea.
Not only is the Brecon
Beacons famous for its
mountains, it’s also known as
Waterfall Country.
In the Hall Barn Farm hallway
is a photo of the stunning Sgwd
yr Eira waterfall at Ystradfellte,
which you can walk behind.
I asked Jane how long it would
take to get there.
Straight away, she dug out
some literature from the library
of local tourist information in
the lounge and said we should
be there in less than an hour.
We picked up a £1 heritage
trail map showing a scenic
circular walk taking in not just
one but five waterfalls from CRic
(the Crickhowell Resource and
Information Centre).
So off we went to explore
Ystradfelltre’s waterfalls. It was a
stunning drive and within
minutes we were in wild,
deserted moorland under a clear
blue sky and sunshine.
Absolutely idyllic.
We stopped for a picnic near a
mountain stream. The sun was
so hot and the water so inviting
that the kids couldn’t resist a
quick dip – even if it did mean
dodging sheep droppings
barefoot back to the car in
dripping wet clothes!
By the time we reached the
closest car park to the waterfalls
it was already 3pm and a ranger
directed us on a shorter, more
child-friendly 90-minute
round-trip rather than the full
three hours.
Sgwd yr Eira is one of the
most incredible sites I’ve ever
seen and walking behind it on
such a lovely summer’s day was
an experience not to be missed.
hot hotels
Visitors vote
for Milestone
IT HAS the ability to propel a
hotel into the stratosphere or
bring it crashing to its knees. And
although the industry may not like
the grip Trip Advisor has on
determining holidaymakers’
accommodation choices, no one can
deny the power of public opinion.
Any establishment that rates well
on the popular travel website wastes
no time in proudly displaying a
certificate behind their reception.
So the recent announcement of
the 12th Travellers’ Choice Award
winners, based on the reviews and
opinions of millions of TripAdvisor
travellers around the globe, was
hotly anticipated.
And the UK had good cause for
celebration, securing 28 awards in
the world’s best lists, up from 14 in
2013.
The Milestone Hotel, in London,
was named winner of the UK award
for top
hotel, and
also rated
among the
world’s 25
top hotels.
The
property,
part of The ■ The dining room at
the Milestone Hotel
Red
Carnation
Hotel Collection, boasts views of
Kensington Palace and Gardens, and
currently has a resident milliner,
Louis Mariette.
While London won the most
awards of any UK city, smaller
seaside towns such as Torquay, St
Ives and Blackpool all did extremely
well.
But the big winner was
Switzerland’s Grand Hotel
Kronenhof, named as the world’s
top hotel.
■ For a full list of this year’s
winners, visit tripadvisor.co.uk/
TravellersChoice