Gardens and grounds
Explore the two acres of fenced parkland that backs out onto the golf course. Stay close to home for cricket, football, rounders and trampolining. Cook your supper on the coal and gas barbecues or in the pizza oven in the south-facing courtyard.
Sizzle and soak in the seven-seat hot tub. Dry off and sit out under the stars for a nightcap in the garden cabana or a chatathon around the firepit.
Living spaces
The snug sits under the minstrels’ gallery. It’s a great place to burn some wood, chew the fat, put some sounds on the Sonos and get together for nights in front of Netflix and BT on the 75” smart TV. Or just raid the DVDs. For a clash of TV tastes, you’ve another 55” telly in the games room.
Did we say games room? Oh yes. Take your pick from American pool, table tennis, darts or board games. Or throw a PlayStation party. For quieter moments, chess and books from the library should do the trick. Need to catch up on email? You’ll find a study area with desk in the left-hand wing.
Cooking and dining
The beautiful beams, exposed stone and minstrels’ gallery lend the open-plan kitchen/dining space the air of a medieval banquet. Tuck in like Henry VIII and wives, with meals prepared on the four-oven Aga with six burners in the main kitchen or the Rangemaster with another six in the East wing.
Eat beneath the chandelier and the vaulted ceiling with light flooding in through the tall windows. Or dine out in the courtyard roasting steak and sausages on the coal and gas barbecues or popping a pizza in the outdoor oven. When you’re done, uncork a bottle or two and get cosy around the cabana or firepit.
Not in the mood for cooking? Ask about our professional chefs, bringing restaurant-quality meals to you. Eat out at The Waterside Restaurant for Cajun salmon salad or chicken katsu with a view over Draycote Water or The Dun Cow in Dunchurch for hearty food, burning logs and a nice beer garden.
For a traditional carvery, head to The Huntsman. Grab pizza and kebab takeaways from Lazzolli. For Indian, it’s Malancha, and you’ll find French and European dishes at Café Vin Cinq. Choose a ribeye steak, pizza or burger from The Boat, or Mexican street food from Hillbillys’ Grill Shack at The Plough.
Bedrooms
Choose from bedrooms on the ground floor, bedrooms on the first floor, and even a bedroom above the detached garage, if you really love your privacy. Wherever you drop, deep in rural Warwickshire, you’ll sleep like an anaesthetised log.
On the ground floor, bedrooms one and two are kingsize in the west wing, while bedroom three (the master) offers another kingsize bed with a freestanding bath and en-suite. Bedroom four provides a kingsize and an open-plan format. Bedroom five is a child- or hen-fest, sleeping five in a king and three singles.
Bedroom six in the East wing is another kingsize, and bedroom seven sits above the garage, offering a kingsize and two singles plus an en-suite with shower.
Children welcome
Homesick kids won’t be a problem here. With seven bedrooms and berths for 19 plus a couple of four-leggers, you can call up Uncle Tom Cobley. But how’s the entertainment when you get here? Just fine, thanks. Oak Lake Barn is a big, barnstorming barrel of fun, both inside and out.
In between walks over the Warwickshire countryside – or getting to know Mr Shakespeare, perhaps? – the games room should fill in a few hours. Work your way around the table tennis, darts, board games and PlayStation on the 55” TV. Elsewhere, you’ll find chess, board games and a library bursting with books.
In the log-lit snug off the open-plan kitchen, you’ll enjoy family time watching films and footie matches on the 75” smart TV with BT, Netflix and Now TV. Summon up your favourite sounds on the Sonos and Bluetooth.
Outside, you’ll discover the courtyard and two acres of parkland with its cricket, football, trampolining and pizza oven. Older kids can soak the night away under the stars in the seven-seat hot tub, then stay out way past bedtime chewing the fat around the firepit or in the cabana.
What people say
Clubs, rods and lots of chocolate
Wander Coombe Abbey’s glorious parkland, then make like Tarzan at Go Ape. Bring your clubs for on-site Whitefields Golf Club and your rods for Draycote Trout Fishery. Dive in to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, ride the steam railway at Rainsbrook Valley, or have a sweet day out at Cadbury World.
