A few weeks ago, Phil and I were invited to spend four nights at Bluestone national park resort, situated in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. I have to admit that it’s not our usual type of getaway. We love big cities, bright lights and busyness as opposed to the quiet countryside.
However, we decided that it would be good to have a more relaxed break for a change. And as we only live an hour and a half from Pembroke, we thought why not!
Accomodation
Whether you’re espcaping to Bluestone for adventure or relaxation, you can expect a luxury lodge, cottage or studio apartment.
The lodges range in size from two to four bedrooms and are capable of accommodating between four to eight people. Although, there is a bunkhouse which caters for 14 people – ideal for large groups and families. We stayed in a Ramsey lodge, which was directly opposite the lake.
The lodges are modern, stylish and furnished to a high standard. My favourite room was the kitchen as it had everything you could possibly need right down to appliances and kitchen utensils like a cheese grater and potato masher. Things you wouldn’t necessary think to take!
The bedrooms were spacious and comfortable with plenty of storage space including a big wardrobe, bedside cabinets and chest of drawers. In our lodge, there was a wetroom and a bathroom with a bath and shower attachment.
The living room was homely once we took pillows and throws from the spare bedroom and put them on the sofas. The TV with freeview channels and DVD player were also a nice touch. The best thing about the living room? The view.
Activities
Bluestone is all about activities so there are plenty of things to do for all ages. For the young, there’s off road safari, baby sensory, toddler sensory, messy play and much more. For older guests, there’s kayaking, archery, canoeing, rafting and the Steep Ravine Sky Wire zip wire course.
Unfortunately, the majority of the activities cost extra apart from the Blue Lagoon water park, which is free to all staying guests. To get an idea of prices, the zip wire course is £28 for 2 hours, rock climbing is £15 for an hour and the off road safari is £19 for 45 mins.
If we didn’t go a week before payday, then we definitely would have booked some activities but sadly, they were a little too expensive for us at the time. We enjoyed the Blue Lagoon though. It’s perfect if the weather is miserable as most of it is indoors!
On dry days, we went for walks in the woods which was great for getting fresh air and appreciating the stunning scenary, nature and wildlife.
There wasn’t much to do in the evenings apart from going to the pub or a restaurant but we were happy to stay in and chill out in front of the TV. It’s something we don’t do often so we made the most of it!
Dining
Even though the resort is self-catering, there are plenty of dining options if you don’t want to spend any time cooking. On the first day, we went to Millers Bakery and had freshly baked pies which were delicious.
We also ate outdoors at Camp Smokey, which was lots of fun. It had a real American camp feel to it with it’s barbeque food and smoke – I almost forgot I was in Wales!
Again, the dining options weren’t cheap (even the pub grub at The Tafarn was overpriced!) so a lot of the time, we cooked in our lodge and just ate lunch out rather than eating out for every meal.
We liked:
- Peaceful and tranquil environment – a brilliant destination for when you want to forget the stresses and strains of daily life.
- Excellent base if you want to explore the surrounding countryside or nearby towns such as Tenby and Haverfordwest.
- It’s very family-orientated so superb if you have children, particularly younger ones as there is lots to keep them occupied.
- Staff are friendly, polite and always happy to help.
- The accommodation is wonderful, it feels like a home from home and I felt genuinely sad to leave!
Things to be aware of:
- Check-in wasn’t until 4.30pm which was annoying as it felt like we had wasted a day of our stay.
- The restaurants on site are quite pricey as is produce from the village shop so stock up on food at the supermarket before you go.
- Although cutlery and kitchen utensils are provided, you might want to stock up on bin bags (only a couple are provided), kitchen roll, toilet paper (2 rolls are provided) and washing-up liquid (a tiny bottle is provided). Don’t forget things like butter, salt and pepper, cooking oil too.
- Activities aren’t included in the cost of your stay so make sure you budget for them ahead of time.
Overall, we enjoyed our time at Bluestone and would love to go again. Only next time we’ll be sure to book activities and sample more of the eateries!
* Please note that accommodation was complimentary. For prices and more information, visit www.bluestonewales.com.