“Fabulous rustic hideaway”
We actually stayed in Shepherd's Rest which is the next door cottage to the Smythy but I doubt they differ much other than the Smythy sleeping more people. This was our second year visiting Riverwood cottages as a family of four with our two boys, aged 6 and 3. They are a fantastic place to stay for a break with kids (most suitable for aged 2 -10). The facilities for kids are great, the farm is ideally located just a 15 minute walk through the woods from Lechlade, where there are good pubs, ...
We actually stayed in Shepherd's Rest which is the next door cottage to the Smythy but I doubt they differ much other than the Smythy sleeping more people. This was our second year visiting Riverwood cottages as a family of four with our two boys, aged 6 and 3. They are a fantastic place to stay for a break with kids (most suitable for aged 2 -10). The facilities for kids are great, the farm is ideally located just a 15 minute walk through the woods from Lechlade, where there are good pubs, cafes and boat hire on the Thames available. The farm is lovely, full of friendly animals and wonderful for playing in and wondering around. The kids loved the swimming pool. The cottages are a little basic but adequate and I think it add to the rustic charm of the place. I would totally disagree with the previous reviewer, but if you would like somewhere spotlessly clean and sterile, perhaps look elsewhere. We found our cottage clean and equipped to a reasonable standard, the owners had improved the range of kitchenware after feedback the previous year. Sadly they were no longer offering the animal feeding tour this year due to negative reviews/feedback which I thought was a real shame as the kids loved it - you are not paying £5 just to feed them but we also got a full tour, introduction and history of all the animals and the farm itself. Well worth it I felt, especially as you had about an hour of their time. Tom did ours last year, he was lovely. Anyway, please don't believe all you read, we found our cottage totally adequate and clean. Valid issues are that the walls are a bit thin so you can hear the neighbours banging about a bit sometimes at night and it can get quite hot in the top room if hot outside but this is much improved by leaving the windows open in the evening to allow a bit of a through draft. There is only a hand held shower for use sitting in the bath, a fixture so you could stand with a shower curtain would be preferable, I would agree. Minor gripes though, overall I rate our stay very highly, a little utopia in a busy, over stressed and sanitised world. Thanks - we'll be back.
