Review: Ivy Cottage at Margam Country Park, Wales

I wonder how many visitors to Margam Country Park realise that they don’t actually need to go home at the end of the day? Because tucked away just beyond the park’s walls, lies Ivy Cottage, with its own private entrance to the grounds and three bedrooms to snuggle down in after a hard day’s exploring.

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And that’s exactly what we did. Our base for the first two nights of our whistlestop tour across the south and west of Wales, discovering Welsh legends, exploring the Gower peninsula including lovely Rhossili Beach and the Gower Heritage Centre, as well as Margam Country Park itself, before heading on to Pembrokeshire.

Ivy Cottage Margam Park: Vital statistics

The three-bedroomed stone Ivy cottage lies just off Junction 38 of the M4, about 40 minutes from Cardiff and 25 minutes from Swansea. More importantly, it’s just a couple of minutes’ drive from the front entrance of Margam Country Park or a few minutes walk from the private entrance into the walled garden, where you can explore whenever you want.

There are also two bathrooms, parking space for two cars, woodburner in the lounge, sun room with a patio and BBQ, kitchen with dishwasher, fridge/freezer and washer/dryer, bike storage and WiFi. A week costs from around £795 – book here.

Ivy Cottage review: The good

The space

With just Minnie and myself staying there, we were rattling around with space to spare. With three bedrooms – a twin, a king-size, and a single – we could have slept in different beds on both nights we stayed, if we had wanted to.

And had a bathroom each. And had one person lounging in the lounge, the other person in the sun room.

Even if the cottage was full, you would have plenty of room to spread out comfortably and the layout makes it great for multigenerational trips too.

The facilities

Quite simply there was everything you needed, whether for a short stay like ours or a longer one (where the washing machine would have come in handy), for chilly weather like ours or a lovely summery break, when I can imagine relaxing on the walled patio.

There was a file of information and suggestions to look through, if you needed more ideas too.

The location

Tucked down a quiet turning off the main road, we hardly saw another person during our stay (apparently Margam Abbey church opposite gets busy on a Sunday but otherwise it’s a dead end).

Two miles away, there’s a shop for provisions as well as a pub, the beach at Porthcawl is only six miles away, and of course Margam Country Park itself next door.

Because of the timing of our arrival and packed itinerary, we went to the park before checking in to the cottage, so never got to try the private entrance – but how enormously cool is it to have your own door through the wall into the park? I was tempted to try it just for the satisfaction of having the opportunity.

Within the park itself, there’s plenty to explore – the castle, rumoured to be haunted, and lots of quirky things to keep your attention as you wander the acres, from carvings to the outdoor musical instruments.

On a freezing February day outside Welsh half-term, we didn’t really get to make the most of it all – the farm trail was closed, for example and Minnie was simply too cold to really enjoy the play area.

Thank goodness for Fairyland, inspired by fairytales and nursery rhymes, with characters inside the little houses and enough to distract my four-year-old from the fact neither of us could feel our feet.

Unsurprisingly, I think you’d have a fabulous time exploring in slightly better weather – check out this summer review from Cardiff Mummy Says – but Minnie asked repeatedly to go back to Fairyland, so you needn’t rely on sunshine to enjoy yourself.

The practicalities

The cottage is a great base for exploring outdoors, including space for bikes, and very helpfully a mud room if you’re planning to wander back in in muddy boots or wellies.

There’s also a cupboard full of picnic crockery for the patio if you get the weather to make the most of it.

The decor

The cottage itself is all neutral tones, but there are plenty of little touches to stop it being boring. Huge snuggly blankets in the lounge and on the beds, fun stag print cushions on the leather sofa, artwork on the walls from button designs to some stunning seascapes. All simple but distinctly cosy.

Ivy Cottage review: The not so good

The chilly bedroom

I never quite worked out how to control the heating during our stay, or even if we could. For the most part, it wasn’t a problem – we were beautifully warm, helped along by the hot chocolate waiting for us in the kitchen – but the king-size bedroom was inexplicably chilly, whatever I tried to do to the radiator.

As we had two others to choose from, it didn’t matter to us enough to call the emergency number.

The pet-free rule

Again, not a problem for us but I can imagine a lot of visitors to the area looking for an outdoorsy break might have a dog with them, which unfortunately rules the cottage out. Worth knowing if you were planning long walks with your furry friend.

Ivy Cottage Margam Park review: The verdict

I can very easily imagine checking in here for a week’s family holiday and still not feeling like we’d had long enough – comfortable with lots of little luxurious touches, it was a blissfully cosy retreat in winter while I’d love the thought of relaxing in the sunshine on the patio as well.

A proper home away from home… if only your home had a private entrance into 850 acres of parkland.

PIN FOR LATER: IVY COTTAGE MARGAM PARK REVIEW

Disclosure: My trip and stay at Ivy Cottage Margam Park was courtesy of Neath & Port Talbot, and Margam Country Park. All opinions and decisions to visit in February are my own. This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission.

Images and video copyright MummyTravels

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