Hello! It’s 21.34 on Monday 9th November and I’m sat in deepest Wales – Pembrokeshire to be exact, at a dining table in a rather swanky lodge, listening to the sound of Police Interceptors on the TV and the wind whistling through the trees. I’m officially now a #BluestoneBlogger and for the next few days, all these posts will be coming from Bluestone!
For those of you who don’t really know what Bluestone is, it’s a holiday village in Bluestone National Park, with a range of lodges and apartments for parties of all sizes. It’s got a vast array of activities and pursuits to keep the family busy, and over the next few days I’ll be looking at some of those. Today, as it was our first day, was largely spent travelling the 300+ miles from home to this beautiful resort.
You’re able to check in from 11am on the day of arrival, with access to your lodge from 16.30, we arrived at 15.00 and joined the queue for the ‘Check In Lodge’. You don’t have to leave the car, just pull up to the window indicated, and you’re greeted by a rather happy member of staff who will give you the keys to your accommodation and will explain how everything works.
We left the car in the car park and had a wander to find a drink – this was found in the ‘The Knights Tafarn’ described as – “Good service, good beer, and good food are the order of the day, every day. Here you can expect your regular pub meals prepared by our great chefs all within the ambience of a country inn, complete with log fire.”
It’s exactly that – with Christmas fast approaching I enjoyed my ‘Pint of Brains’ whilst watching the log fire burning and a Christmas Tree twinkling. It was a lovely way to start the holiday, especially after being stuck in a car for five hours!
Before we knew it, it was nearing 16.30 and our accommodation would be ready for us to take a look at, we were booked into at ‘Ramsey Lodge’ which is designed for groups of four, with two bedrooms (one double, one twin), both with en suite bathrooms, and a spacious ‘living area’ that has an open plan kitchen, dining and lounge. The site is a ‘no car’ zone, so at 16.30 you’re allowed to drive to your lodge and unload, then return your car to the car park for the duration of your stay.
The light was fading fast so I didn’t get a chance to get photos of the lodge, I’ll show you it tomorrow, but it’s lovely, a beautiful mash up of contemporary and traditional, extremely well-appointed too. It’s clearly been designed as a ‘home from home’ and it fits the bill – it’s fantastic!
By the time we’d explored and I’d bashed through a few emails (free WiFi is a great bonus!), we were both feeling a little peckish. I spotted the menu for the Oak tree Restaurant whilst we were out earlier and a few of the dishes enticed me, sadly that’s closed on Monday, so we opted for the Farmhouse Grill instead. The restaurant area was packed out, so we opted to eat in the bar instead. Examining the menu, there’s really only one ‘Veggie Friendly’ main, but it did sound very good! So dinner tonight consisted of –
A large bowl of nachos (liked having the jalapeños on the side)
Caramelised Onion and Potato Tart Served with mushroom and thyme sauce
And.. White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake
AMAZING – the food in there was fantastic, and I LOVED the design of the Farmhouse Grill – I’m looking forward to seeing more of the village tomorrow in the sunlight. After dinner we found our way back to our Lodge (it’s SUPER close) and settled down to what’s left of the evening in the cosy lodge!
Anyway, I’ll be back tomorrow with lots more photos, I’ll film some vloggy stuff too (although you’ll have to wait for me to edit it when I get home!). See you on Wednesday!
