2020-07-01RedUK

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July 2020 | REDONLINE.CO.UK

A

s soon as you open the cabin door to this

woodland retreat you are in a different world.

We arrive at night (it’s hard to find, so take

directions!), and find everything we need to guide

us in the dark: wellies, a map and a torch. Inside,

the space – styled in made.com furniture – is a cross between

a Colorado cabin and a Hollywood Hills celebrity apartment. On the first evening, we cover

ourselves in blankets and play snakes and ladders by the hanging fireplace. And the next day,

we wake up with a view of the canopy and watch birds fly through the Wye Valley trees –

nuthatches and woodpeckers gather around the bird feeder. The bedroom, which you get to

via a wooden spiral staircase, is the most beautiful part of the cabin, tucked in the triangular

mezzanine, with a king-size handmade loft bed and a glass window staring out into the trees.

Downstairs, an outdoor copper bath sits on the wooden decking, where you can take a dip

and watch the trees sway in the wind. It’s too chilly for us to try this time, so instead we have

a lazy breakfast and take advantage of the guest hamper’s pint of fresh apple juice (from the

local farm shop), delicious buttercup yellow salted butter, crusty bread, home-made biscuits

and croissants. By daylight, it’s obvious that the couple who run Hudnalls have thought of

everything. There are Spacemasks, Temple Spa toiletries, a telescope (for stargazing), and

even a marshmallow toasting fork! If you wanted to spend all weekend here, you could –

but we decide to venture out: first to the St Briavels food market (for home-made sausage

rolls and scones), and later to the nearby Tudor Farmhouse for dinner. At the latter, we

enjoy light-as-a-feather soufflé, potato gnocchi with braised black cabbage

and borlotti beans, and pork belly with pickled pears. Oh, and buttermilk

panna cotta with honey and thyme plums. It’s one of those meals you

don’t easily forget, and well worth the 20-minute cab ride.

By the time we are ready to say goodbye to this romantic retreat, it feels

like we have been away for a week. I think that’s because there is no wi-fi,

which turned out to be a great blessing. So for that reason, and all the rest,

this is somewhere to come with someone you love. NATASHA LUNN

THE HUDNALLS

HIDEOUT, WYE VALLEY

TRIP NOTES

A stay is priced from £225

(midweek) and £275 a night

(weekend), based on two sharing.

Visit hudnallshideout.co.uk. The

Tudor Farmhouse six-course tasting

menu costs £60 (wine not included).

See tudorfarmhousehotel.co.uk

From top: The Hudnalls

Hideout; a very special

woodland retreat; ideal

for bird/stargazing

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Natasha visited the

restaurant at Tudor

Farmhouse for dinner.