Payments made by partners impact the order of prices displayed. Room types may vary.
The listings of booking offers for each property take into account the compensation paid to us by our partners. Prices shown may be for varying room types. Prices displayed are the lowest available, corresponding to the least expensive room type available, as provided from our partners as of the time of the user’s search.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
We have 3 gorgeous stone cottages and 6 super posh Safari glamping tents all sleeping 2-4. on an award winning organic Farm near Hay on wye. We offer food nights, sunday lunches and even fully catered events too. All produce locally sourced or produced right here on the Farm. Dogs are Welcome. Groups too. We are known for our ‘Cool Farm Stays and Gatherings in the Sticks’ and our passion for food grown the proper way. Drovers Rest is a relaxed, hands on kinda place. We pride ourselves on being much more than just posh award winning accommodation. Here it’s all about the experience you have! We believe in the magic that happens when people gather. That’s why a big part of what we do here at Drovers, is gather people. Around our farm activities, our dinner table, camp fires, walking the old Drovers paths and our Epic Events. Once you’ve experienced our convivial gatherings, you’ll never want to leave! And as we were born in Africa you’ll also feel a definite African type of vibe going on here.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Second time in a safari tent at Drovers and it was even better than the first. We had such a brilliant family holiday, so peaceful and fun. The tents themselves are more comfortable than you could imagine, the beds superb and warm, the outdoor space looking across the meadow is a stunning environment. Close enough to possible friends for the kids to make to be convenient, but far enough for quiet conversation as the sun goes down. Great wifi, amazing showers and clean EVERYTHING. Paul's farm tour, Marta's infectious enthusiasm and the delicious breakfast were our highlights, as well as our campfire and smores in the woods, which are breathtaking. Full on family fun, and Hay on Wye just an 8 min drive away for all the books, coffee and delicious food you could ever need. Our dog was probably the happiest we've seen him so far this year. We'll be back again, I'm sure.
Read more
Date of stay: June 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Want to Canoe in Hay is an excellent day out, really fun.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Kesri Smolas, Owner at Drovers Rest
Responded 25 Jun 2023
Thank you so much for your lovely review. It's always so rewarding to see feedback in black and white for Drovers and all the elements we work so hard on behind the scenes. We hope to see you all again and do spread the word
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
My friends and I (4 of us) had a delightful evening at The Drovers Rest a couple of Saturdays ago. The setting, hospitality and food were all glorious. We particularly loved the cocktails!
Rhe first time the four of us had been out for a meal together since COVID and what a treat it was. We loved the attention to detail around the courtyard and a special mention must go to the owners daughter who was a fantatsic host all evening. It was such a delight to see a family pulling together and allowing others to create wonderful memories in their beautiful setting.
The curry was very tasty and we loved how quirky the whole set up was. We look forward to going back for the BBQ evening very soon. Fantatsic work Team Drovers x
Read more
Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Kesri Smolas, Owner at Drovers Rest
Responded 2 Sept 2020
Thank you for the fab review. Glad you liked our family run business, the cocktails! ad the hospitality See you all soon for BBQ night. My daughter the 12 year old maitre d is very happy she got mentioned
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed here at the beginning of September as a family of 4 (4 year old daughter and 11 month old son) in The Carthouse & we had the best trip away. The cottage we stayed in was faultless and the owners had provided all equipment we needed for our 11 month old, so meant we didn’t have to take bulky baby equipment. The owners were so helpful and friendly and a special mention is deserved for their daughter, who was so friendly and informative, especially on the farm walk. The farm walk was a highlight, especially for my daughter, who mentions it everyday and now wants a farm with animals of her own! We also booked on for two of the dinner nights (though think these were the last of the summer season) - pizza night and bbq night. The food was so delicious and there was lots of it. I particularly liked the added touch of the cocktails. We can’t recommend Drovers Rest enough and cannot wait to come back next year. My daughter is requesting that we stay in one of the safari tents next! Thank you everyone at Drovers for a lovely getaway in a beautiful location.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A last minute cancellation, on a bank holiday weekend, brought us to this gem at the foot of the Black Mountains just outside Hay-on-Wye! Lush camping, glamping, call it what you want, but what you find a warm family welcome! A Beautiful setting with tents and chalets! A working farm with roaming sheep, inquisitive lamas and ponds with ducks. Then the tents... o man! A log burner and comfy beds with electric blankets to keep you warm when the nights get chilly. Everything you need in the kitchen is of high quality! The oblution area is another surprise! Each tent has its own private bathroom with towels, lovely lemony smelling shower gels and a waterfall shower! Breakfast is included and Fri is pizza evening. The log burning pizza oven bakes amazing pizzas and breads! Saturday evening is curry pot dinner...lip smacking!! ! All to be enjoyed in the open or closed barn where you will also find a bar! Beautiful quiet nights, and I havent seen so many stars in years! Breathtaking!! I dont want to leave! Cant we just stay here? Big plus is that Droversrest is pet friendly and family orientated! Thank you Paul,Kesri,family and team! We will be back!
Gerda and Michael White
Read more
Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We came across Drovers Rest after being let down by another Glamping Establishment and it turned out to be the best family holiday we have had in a long time. Paul was so helpful and accommodating through booking, the welcome was warm and relaxed - we instantly felt at ease. The staff were all passionate, friendly and interesting. We stayed in a safari tent which was spacious, comfortable, clean and contained more home comforts than we could have hoped for. The beds were comfortable and very warm with electric blankets which we didn’t need to switch on because we were so snug. The farm walks were a great start to each day, getting hands on with all the animals. I also have to say that the animals were all loved and cared for by all the staff, they had lots of space and the environment was just spot on. Our kids (2 & 3) got to feed alpacas, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, horses and pigs and learnt about their particular breeds. There are regular food nights, we were staying on the curry night and it was such a treat… there were 2 curries served with naan, rice and dips, the portion size was great and it was served piping hot in a relaxed, friendly environment, the home made bread starter and desert were also amazing! Again, the staff were all attentive and friendly, being accommodating of our fussy eating kids so that we all had a fantastic night! Hay on Wye was great for exploring, some lovely shops and the Warren was great for river swimming and relaxing. We will be visiting again next summer and can recommend Drovers Rest to anybody looking for a luxury glamming experience in a relaxed and friendly environment!
Read more
Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It was our first visit and we can't wait to return. There was so much space for the kids to explore, roam free safely, meet new friends and discover farm life. We all loved the meals which we booked - pizza, an authentic South African 'Potjie' curry and Sunday roast. Lovely to see fresh ingredients from the veg garden used in the generous portions, plus pudding - making it good value. A wide variety of drinks available, including apple juice made from apples in their own orchard. Service was efficient and welcoming in a very relaxed setting.
We took up the offer of the farm walks and a guided walk up Hay Bluff which was definitely worth the effort. Enjoying all the open air and nature both on site and nearby was something special after the last few months.
We stayed in Cart House which was very spacious. All in all a great stay!
Read more
Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Kesri Smolas, Owner at Drovers Rest
Responded 2 Sept 2020
thank you for the lovely review. glad you loved our produce, food nights and activities. We await to see you all again down on the farm
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Warm welcome on arrival and was shown to our accommodation, showers, washing up etc. We were then invited to help bring the horses in from the fields into the barn where we chatted more with Paul and his brother Raymond. We drank cocktails before dinner in the courtyard around the fire, Friday was pizza night, cooked from the pizza oven and eaten in the dining room.
At 9am Saturday morning all the guests met Paul and Raymond where we helped to feed the horses, chickens, ducks, alpacas, goats, pigs, along with Coco and Indie the dogs, and Stuart the cat! Saturday afternoon was spent in Hay on Wye just a few miles away which had an Artisan market where we bought local produce and had a pint (or two!), then back to camp for a walk over the common.
Saturday eve was curry night were Paul’s wife; Kesri made chicken and vegetable curries, Paul cooked chicken and chips for the kids (including my husband!) along with Boerewors, a type of South African sausage on the BBQ. We had Aubergine fritters for starters around the fire, again, whilst drinking cocktails!
The tent we stayed in was clean, cosy and with the electric blankets and log fire we were plenty warm enough. We liked the fact that each tent had their own bathroom which again was clean and warm with the underfloor heating along with the washing up facilities. The farm is eco so handwash, body wash and washing up liquid is supplied.
We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend, the friendly family owners, relaxed atmosphere and the animals made it. Truly worth a stay.
Read more
Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Kesri Smolas, Owner at Drovers Rest
Responded 15 Apr 2022
Thanks for taking the time for such a lovely and detailed review. We appreciate it and will certainly help other guests. Loved having you all stay and hope to see you all again soon.
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We visited for a mid week break with our baby. We were a little unsure how the break would be in the current pandemic but were pleasantly surprised. The team were all lovely and it felt like home from home. The safari tents are very well stocked with all the kitchen appliances you could want and our private bathroom had everything we needed. The hosts were so accommodating and handled a little accident our baby had on a towel without any problem. We loved meeting the wide range of friendly animals.
We can't wait to come back and have already recommended the site to our friends.
Read more
Date of stay: April 2021
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip:Check how far your tent is from the bathroom and proximity to the barn
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
After seeing all the hype on the Drover's Rest social media channels about how wonderful the 'Drover's Rest Experience' was, we decided to give it a go. We were looking forward to an evening of great food in a wonderful location but unfortunately that's not what we experienced. Instead we received a very lack lustre welcome, everything was very disorganised, a long wait for food which when it arrived was barely warm not to mention very mediocre plus the table service was just dreadful.
Upon arrival we ordered drinks but only half the order was delivered and there was no sign of the rest of the drinks turning up, plus there were no glasses to drink from either so we had to chase this up. We ordered the food which took over an hour to arrive. Three times during that hour we were asked what name our table booking was under????
It was curry night and the food had been hyped as this amazing family recipe, "made from secret recipes taught through generations of my family". Sadly the recipe hasn't stood the test of time, the food was lacking in flavour, served with plain rice, a poppadom that was chewy and a 'shop bought' naan bread that had been smothered in butter and coriander. To top it off the food served was barely warm. You can imagine how disappointed we all were. At £15.00 per head this really fell short of getting value for money and was not at all how it had been promoted. After complaining we did receive a reduction in the bill which did take away some of the bad taste which had been left in our mouths from this dreadful experience.
Living in Herefordshire we are really spoilt with the amount of fabulous places available to eat that are welcoming, serve outstanding food and meet the expectations of their customers. In our humble opinion the Drover's Rest was not one of them.
In summary the 'Drover's Rest Experience' is one that you could happily do without, it's all image and very little content.
Read more
Date of stay: July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Kesri Smolas, Owner at Drovers Rest
Responded 1 Sept 2020
Sad to see this review. We always learn from our reviews to constantly be upping our game. After this review I will make it clearer to guests that due to Covid we do not do table service to make it safer for you and our staff. We are sorry that you felt we were unorganised, we also normally do not provide glasses if you are outside due to breakages and the animals that roam the land. I disagree with you that the food was tepid, bland and hyped up and shop bought. 'sadly the recipes have not stood the test of time' is hurtful esp as many guests know us specifically because of our curries. Our curries are slow cooked in iron pots over the fires which is still on when we serve your food so unsure how the food could be tepid. And bland ? the chicken curry had no less than 11 different blended spices and the veg curry had 7. £15 for a delicious slow cooked chicken and potato curry, and also a veg curry with sweet potatoes butternut, lentils, coconut milk and spinach (you get both curries) served with freshly cooked rice, poppadums and pickles, mango chutney and yogurt and carrot salad, naan bread with an olive oil and coriander pesto dressing finished with a lemon tart desert I don't know about you but I can't even get this at the local takeaway for this price. All our food is sourced from our own farm or locally and cooked fresh so it does take a bit longer to serve We used to only do food for our staying guests who loved it but having recently opened up to others as a post lock down initiative to help other local food & drink suppliers and our usual cohort of staff as well as ourselves during these difficult times. If you are thinking of staying with us or booking one of our food nights hopefully you put all the amazing reviews we have and this one into perspective.
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
A warm and friendly welcome from Paul, Kesri and their team awaits you at this nice relaxing farm stay where you can participate in farm walks to feed the animals which consist of alpacas, sheep, goats, ducks, pigs & horses. Cosy, spacious, well equipped glamping tents are onsite and a few minutes walk to your own toilet & shower rooms dependent upon which tent you are in. Highly recommend taking your evening meals or Sunday lunch here to, the food is amazing, all local and fresh. Don’t be afraid to ask for help getting the fire roaring!
Read more
Date of stay: April 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Bring extra layers as can get very gold during the night.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Hay-on-Wye area.
PRICE RANGE
£124 - £162 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
United KingdomWalesPowysHay-on-Wye
NUMBER OF ROOMS
9
Prices are provided by our partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
