Penhein glamping review – luxury glamping in Wales

There’s nothing like the peace of falling asleep under the stars, listening to an owl hoot, slowing down and switching off – but much as I love this side of camping, curling up to sleep in a sweaty little tent does not tempt me. But glamping? Ah, that’s different…

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So the thought of luxury glamping in Wales was instantly tempting. Because Penhein glamping, just outside Chepstow on the southern edges of the Forest of Dean, is as far away as you can get from roughing it – while still getting all those benefits of camping.

With a proper bed, flushing en-suite toilet and wood burning stove (not to mention a separate little ‘cheat’s’ kitchen, proper heated washblock and drying room), this really is the best of both worlds.

Penhein glamping review: vital statistics

Set on a 400 acre farm and estate, you’re already getting away from the world by the time you reach the glampsite. A mile or so along the winding driveway, through a field of sheep, and set in a wooded area on the edge of a wild flower meadow, you’ll find the six Persian alachigh tents.

Similar to yurts, but a traditional Iranian version, there’s room for four to sleep inside, along with a little kitchen area with big cold box, plenty of crockery and pans, essentials including oil, a dining table, sofa and the wood-burning stove (with fire blanket, extinguisher and CO alarm to hand, although as it’s set on a fireproof slate, well away from anything flammable, the biggest danger was me dropping the poker).

In a separate mini tent, attached to the main one, is the toilet, then wooden seats around your own firepit outside.

There are also the communal areas – a natural playground as soon as you walk in (there are wheelbarrows to take bags from the car park to the tents, as well as for collecting wood) plus a communal tent with more tables and two boxes of games, one indoor, one outdoor.

That and the ‘cheat’s kitchen’ both have plug sockets too if you want to keep your phone or gadgets charged, although it’s the perfect place to switch off. There’s no WiFi either although data and signal were both strong.

In the cheat’s kitchen, there’s an honesty bar with local beer and cider, plus wine, soft drinks and jam – as well as extra food to order and request, including the Penhein Pantry with everything from bread and cakes to main meals, plus options for bigger groups, including wood fired pizza and huge bowls of paella.

I was kicking myself for not ordering something for our own arrival – around 90 minutes later than planned after my car battery failed, so having a couple of little hobs to boil some emergency pasta for Minnie came in very useful rather than waiting for the stove to heat up.

The kitchen also has frozen hot water bottles to keep your cold box cool: easy to swap them morning and evening.

Last but not least, the washblock with its underfloor heating, deliciously hot monsoon showers which put most hotels to shame – and even a rolltop bath. After a lot of walking and a few chilly Easter days, I was very tempted to test it out… except that it’s a far less relaxing experience with a bored six-year-old in the cubicle.

So that’s what you get… but what’s it like?

Penhein glamping review: the reality

Turning up feeling faintly frazzled – a dead car battery and the discovery I’d left my AA card at home hadn’t been part of the plan – I could almost feel the stress dissolving as I switched off the engine.

Fellow guests offered to help carry our things down to the tent while owner James talked me through everything I needed to know about a stay at Penhein glamping, before lighting the fire for me.

Minnie, meanwhile, had scampered off at the first opportunity to play, re-emerging every 10 minutes or so to present a new friend, ask if she could visit their tent, or announce a new discovery.

Living in a city, even a green and leafy corner of a city, there’s no opportunity for a six-year-old simply to run off unsupervised and play.

Here, in a glampsite surrounded by fields of the estate, the freedom for kids to explore is simply wonderful – the only real perils, falling over into brambles or wobbling off one of the wood and tyre structures in the playground (both of which I managed to survive doing in my own childhood).

A little patch of old-fashioned childhood, she and her fellow small guests spent a large chunk of our stay roaming, swinging and making up games.

In fact, our whole stay found that balance between the simple pleasures and enjoying having to make relatively little effort.

We took a frisbee to the meadow, played badminton (badly) and pondered a walk through the woods where bluebells will soon be blooming before trying a game of Scrabble (very fun despite having possibly the worst hand of tiles in my life), both courtesy of the games boxes in the communal tent. The tablet stayed firmly off.

Minnie also joined in a printmaking workshop for kids, decorating a notebook with her own personal stamp before wandering back outside to draw pictures of everything from a nettle and dandelion to a swing and spider.

Depending when you visit, there’s also campfire cookery and bushcraft (for kids and adults), as well as botanical gin foraging (not for kids!) on the list of adventures at Penhein Farm.

And the folder of information in the tents has ideas on other days out for kids near Penhein, including for rainy days, more active options and some favourite family attractions, not to mention suggestions of walks around the farm, whether you fancy a bit of a hike or a gentle amble.

We’d been exploring busily before our arrival so the chance to have a chilled-out day on the site was too tempting to pass up.

But at the end of it, there’s water on tap (literally – from a spring-fed supply rather than the mains), a huge comfy bed so big that Minnie had to scramble to get up above the truckles tucked in underneath, no need to wander through the dark to the toilet, and candles and paraffin lamps for light as I relaxed with a glass of wine and my book.

There’s even a tealight candelabra above the bed, and a clear circle to let in the daylight, or to gaze up at the stars.

I fell asleep to the sound of owls hooting in the trees, and awoke to the dawn chorus and lambs bleating in the nearby field.

Sounds idyllic? It really is… The only thing to ponder was whether we had enough wood to keep the fire going (there’s a supply in the tent when you arrive plus extra to restock during your stay).

Because I have to admit that all those years as a girl guide were evidently wasted… An unexpectedly chilly April night, combined with me not putting enough wood on the flames before bed, meant we awoke on our first morning to a cold stove.

I managed a convincing smoulder before we darted to the washblock to defrost (and a kettle in the cheat’s kitchen meant I got coffee without relying on my own fire-making skills).

By evening, when I failed to get it roaring once more, I sheepishly texted James to ask for help – despite having just driven back from Berkshire, he appeared almost straight away and conjured up flames within minutes.

There are numbers for both James and his wife Helen given on arrival, along with assurances that we could contact them at any time if there was a problem – in fact, learning of my car battery issues, James had even offered to drive the 40 minutes to try to get my car working before we had even checked in – so if you’re as adept at getting the stove going as me, you needn’t worry.

Piled high with logs, and with a few more chucked on for good luck when I woke randomly at 3am, the tent was still cosy the following morning.

And after I got carried away with my own ability to keep it burning overnight and added more than I needed when we woke up, to be sure of enough heat to boil the kettle, it became so warm that I had to open the door.

Next, I had my sights set on the fire pit. Or I would have done if we hadn’t had to leave.

As Minnie went off for one last swing on each of the glampsite’s swings – one hung from a tree overlooking the meadow, a rope swing and a tyre swing – in a final attempt to decide which was most fun, I rather reluctantly loaded up the car and prepared to return to the real world.

For more ideas on things to do with kids in the Forest of Dean, including Puzzlewood, check out my top picks

PIN FOR LATER: PENHEIN GLAMPING REVIEW

Disclosure: My stay was free for review, courtesy of Penhein Glamping and Forest of Dean & Wye Valley Tourism. All opinions and ineptitude at making fires are my own.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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