I take great pleasure in travelling through Wales and have had the privilege to stay in some wonderful places, so I thought I’d take the time to share some of them with you.

Earlier this year, during the grey damp patch we got when we all expected summer (August), we visited Aberystwyth and stayed at the Gwesty Cymru.

We arrived in a rain storm that accompanied us for the whole of our visit (which isn’t a negative comment from me being a connoisseur of drizzle). We watched the rugby in The Academy, which is a place I always enjoy, any mix of beer and architectural beauty always gets to me.

After checking in and settling in to our magnificent room (of which more later) we went for a drink before dinner that never materialised at The Orangery. I’ve read of The Orangery as being similar to a bar in Cardiff - I can confidently say that if the service was as bad as we experienced it wouldn’t last long in Cardiff. Enough said…

So instead we had a quick drink in the compact hotel bar. The hotel itself was a real revelation - we stayed in the room right at the top of the hotel - tucked away in what I suggest is the best room on the Welsh coast (quite a claim, but I challenge you to prove me wrong). Cool colours, slate and wood, luxurious furnishings and one of those enormous beds that you can hide from your spouse in (sorry). I even loved the stair carpet and the door handles - suffice to say I’m not going to find fault. As the hotel had only been open for a few months I hope it can stand up to the battering it’ll get over the years.

We ate in the restaurant that evening - crab cakes and locally caught fish, then finished with a excellent Panna Cotta that was subtly flavoured with rosemary and came as the highlight of a well cooked, well presented not overly fussy meal made from what I’d judge to be appropriately sourced (local) ingredients.

Next morning, the Welsh breakfast came up to my exacting standards and the bill came as a pleasant surprise as we left smiling into the grey summer wind and rain of West Wales.

My one concern is Aberystwyth; does it deserve such a gem?

So thoroughly recommended, but hey, don’t book the attic room … it’s mine!

If you have any opinions, reflections, corrections or additions then I’d love you to let me have them - please leave a comment.

Gwesty Cymru website

visit the Gwesty Cymru website

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 9:27 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.