Hot tub, gardens and grounds
Beyond the one-acre gardens, the Ladywalk Nature Reserve is home to chiffchaffs and wintering bitterns. Those 100 acres envelop the house and grounds in a shroud of silky silence. Which means total privacy for your nightly dips in the starstruck seven-seater hot tub.
During the day, eat out on the 18-seat terrace table with steaks sizzling on the barbecue. Then it’s off to the paddock for a footie kickabout, rounders, or croquet or cricket on the lawn. Let the kids loose on the swings.
Living spaces
School’s out’s a higher education in oak beams and floors, squishy sofas and chat-friendly snug spaces. Let’s start in the snug, the perfect place to sip coffee after dinner, chill, chat or mix it up with a movie. When it’s time to get moving again, head out across the courtyard for the games room to end them all.
Inside a 2500-square-foot heated building that’s like a miniature sports centre, you’ll find entertainment for all the family. Choose from full-sized snooker, darts, table tennis, or a gaming and computer station equipped with PlayStation, plus many more games. Or bag a blockbuster on Netflix and Amazon Prime on the 75-inch Smart TV.
Cooking and dining
You’re on holiday, right? So put your feet up. Call up our external caterers for a little white-hat treatment over a one-off celebration or fully catered break. Want the white gloves as well? We can probably arrange a butler. But if you’re good to top up the pot yourself, then the range cooker and six-burner hobs will be happy to help.
Stock up the fridge with meat from Mullengrove Farm and Morrison’s at Coleshill. Eat around the 20-seat oak table under the beams, by the inglenook fireplace, or out on the terrace in the sunshine. Or pick from coal and gas barbecues. Drop your dirties into the dishwasher when you’re done and retire to the cosy snug with a pod coffee.
Tackle an Indian takeaway from The Pavilion, traditional English Friday fare from The Atlantic Fish Bar or pizza from The Swan at Whitacre. Enjoy a great English Breakfast or sandwiches at Lea Marston Shooting Club. Or eat in at The Swan for beer-battered fish and chips or spaghetti and lamb. Or head to The Railway at Whitacre for tikka massala, the beer garden and the kids’ play area.
Stop by The Gate in Nether Whitacre to sample steak-and-ale pie or lamb kebabs. Order a Rogan josh or vindaloo to eat at the opulent Pavilion restaurant, and don’t skimp on the popadoms. Or if you’re over at The Belfry, make a meal of it with à la carte dining at The Ryder Grill, Italian at Rocca’s, or afternoon tea, light bites and cocktails at the Brabazon Bar.
Bedrooms
Wrapped in a birdfest nature reserve and within its own one-acre grounds, School’s Out’s not touched by much when darkness drops, so you’ll sleep like a seasoned snoozer. So all that’s left to do is pick from seven oak-floored, oak-beamed, telly-equipped beauties sleeping 18.
Bedroom one is a ground-floor kingsize with skylights, separate pet room and private shower room, while bedroom two on the first floor also offers a kingsize, nature-reserve views and a bathroom shared with bedroom three, a kingsize with high ceilings.
Bedroom four is a double with paddock views and private bathroom, while high-ceilinged bedroom five provides a kingsize, reserve views and private bathroom. Bedroom six is another kingsize with bathroom and reserve views, while bedroom seven sleeps four in a self-contained flat with views over the gardens and the reserve.
Children welcome
Which child wouldn’t love a place called School’s Out? But kids on holiday aren’t crazy about the journey (’Are we there yet?’), so you’ll love School’s Out’s central location, in between the M6 Toll, M69 and M42 so, wherever you’re coming from, there won’t be too many more corners to negotiate. Once you get there, the fun barely stops.
Is there a games room? Only the biggest and best games room you’ve ever seen. Housed in a separate, 2500-square-foot building across the courtyard, the games room here comes complete with family favourites that include table tennis, darts, a full-sized snooker table, PlayStation games station, 75” smart TV and much more.
Out in the one-acre garden, kids can lose hours over cricket, croquet and rounders. There are footie nets to emulate Harry Kane, room for dogs to run, and a children’s play area to suck up excess energy. Older kids can simmer beneath the stars in the seven-seat hot tub. Teenagers will love the self-contained flat above the garage.
What people say
Guns, fish and apes
Shoot guns, quad-trek and fish for carp at Lea Marston Hotel. Spend the day clay shooting, quad trekking and more at Lea Marston Shooting Club.Hack over lovely countryside with Lea Marston Equestrian. Relive Ryder Cup magic at The Belfry. Or enjoy Norman history at Tamworth Castle. Meet sea otters at the Sealife Centre, monkeys and apes at Twycross Zoo or Thomas and friends at Draycot Manor.
