* This is an advert for Bluestone Wales, our stay was complimentary in exchange for a review.
Bluestone Wales is a luxury holiday park set in the beautiful Pembrokeshire countryside. Situated a twenty-minute drive from the seaside resort of Tenby, 10 minutes drive from the little village of Narbeth and next door to Oakwood theme park, it's well situated to explore this area of west Wales.
I've visited Bluestone Wales a few times in the past, and have always enjoyed the stay, so when I was invited to Bluestone at short notice a couple of weeks ago to cover it for my blog, I jumped in the car with the suitcases, tied Mr W to the roof rack, picked my mum up on the way and then drove the ninety minutes to the park from our home in South Wales.
Check-In
Check-in was at 4.30pm, we got there early but there was a queue. Bluestone Wales staggers check-in for people who are staying at different lodges but the park is huge and we generally have to wait. To check-in, you drive up to the check-in window, give your reservation details and they give you maps of the resorts, explain where to park and tell you the basic information. You can take your car to your lodge to unload, but that night you need to move it to the car park at the top of the resort and keep it there for your stay.
The accommodation in the park is a mix of wooden holidays lodges and a few cottages. The resort is hilly and you can hire a buggy for your stay. I would recommend this if you have little ones, people with mobility problems or the elderly infirm with you. For a Monday to Friday stay the cost of hiring aa buggy was £89. You can also hire a buggy on a daily basis if there is availability.
There is a minibus that drives around the resort on a regular basis, with a couple of main stops, near the village and at the car park if you do not want to hire a buggy.
The Lodge
We were booked into a Dinas lodge which is very spacious accommodation, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen diner and a lounge.
As you can see from the photos above, the kitchen was very well fitted out, with a complete oven and hob, dishwasher, and two fridges. There wasn't a freezer but there were two freezer compartments.
Washing up liquid was provided as well as a couple of dishwasher tablets, a dishcloth and scourer, and a tea towel.
The lounge had a table and chairs big enough for 8 with placemats included. There was also a cupboard with dishes and plates and a high chair.
There are two bathrooms equipped to a good standard. One with a bath and a shower and the other just with a shower. Both had toilets.
Handwash was provided as well as towels. There was a hairdryer in the bedroom. You need to bring your own soap and shower gel, or bath products.
There are four bedrooms in the Dinas lodge, two double bedrooms and two twin bedrooms. Each room had bedside tables and a wardrobe and/or chest of drawers.
The Grounds
The luxury holiday park is set in over 500 acres of grounds. At the heart of the resort, you have the Bluestone Village, where restaurants, cafes and the Knight's Tafarn pub is set as well as the Well Spa. A few steps from there is the gorgeous lake area, the steep ravine and Camp Smokey area. At the top of the resort is the Serendome and the Blue Lagoon pool.
The Serendome is a new addition to Bluestone Wales. Open in July 2019, it's an undercover activity centre in a huge dome.
The Serendome is free to use if you are staying at the resort and it's a great resource for kids, although some activities are paid for. You can take part in the Wacky Races activity where you decorate your own go-kart, for the adventurous SkyWalk is a vertical adventure course and the mini SkyWalk is suitable for the younger ones. Complimentary activities include water and sand play and the imagination garden.
The Serendome is also home to the Cloud Amphitheatre, a 400 seat state of the art facility. While we were there they were selling tickets to the Starchitects show in the Serendome - 'the tale of the young Starchitects who, dream of exploring the dark skies above and join them on their mission to touch the moon.' This sounded a great show for kids, full of dance and acrobatics.
The Serendome also has a small food court which is open later in the day where you can choose from burritos, curries and burgers, and before shows, there is a bar available too. If you want to read more about the Serendome I recommend you checking out Catherine's review from Passport and Adventures blog.
Next to the Serendome is the Adventure Centre, where you can play mini-golf and do a Sky Trail rope course. They also have lots of activities for younger kids including soft play, a bouncy castle, and a climbing wall for older ones. There are a handful of arcade machines too and a cafe.
Close by is the Blue Lagoon waterpark. This is one of the big draws in the park. This all-weather attraction is suitable for all ages and all abilities with a wave pool, slides and jets.
There is even the Nippers Cove, suitable for under 5s. What is great about the Blue Lagoon is that admission is free if you are staying in Bluestone Wales.
The Village
The village is at the heart of the resort. Here you can find a gift shop, a mini supermarket selling most things you would need for a break away, a pub called The Knight's Tafarn, the Oaktree restaurant serving pizza and pasta, and the Farmhouse Grill serving a range of food. There is also the Ty Coffi cafe where you can buy hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes and snacks.
We had a coffee at Ty Coffi and I felt the prices were fair and the coffee actually was very good.
The main office is here next to the minimarket, where you can book activities and ask any questions. You can also book activities via their website or on their app (more of that later).
There is a small outdoor play area too for kids.
Bluestone also has a small spa called the Well Spa, with a pool, therapy rooms, a herbal steam room, two saunas and more. You can buy entry to the spa, and also book treatments for a price. Previously I've had a pedicure here and was pleased with the outcome, the staff are very professional and well trained. I would recommend booking in advance if you want a certain treatment, especially in high season.
Just above the Village is a fish and chip van called the Chippy, that, of course, we had to try out. The fish and chips were very good and made fresh for us. I definitely recommend trying the Chippy out!
Another night we tried out the Farmhouse Grill restaurant and the bar attached.
They have live music here on select nights and also a pub quiz twice a week. We, of course, had to enter the pub quiz as we love a good quiz, and guess what, we won!
Nice to win a bottle of wine as a prize.
The food in the Farmhouse Grill restaurant was better than expected too. The food was restaurant prices, between £10 and about £20 for a main course, but it was fair value for what you got. The steak and ale pie I had one night was very tasty, the steak filling rich and delicious and the puff pastry lid light and flaky.
The brisket with fries, corn on the cob and cornbread was fine. The brisket was sliced thinly but was very tender and delicious, however, the BBQ sauce was overpowering and the cornbread wasn't cornbread, instead, normal white bread. The sweetcorn was good though. Mr W enjoyed his food though and the staff were very attentive so overall it was a thumbs from us.
The Winter Lights
During our stay, the Winter Lights show was on and this runs until the end of March. One of the activities linked to this is the Winter Lights trail, a walk through the woods with twinkling lights.
To see the woods lit up like this was lovely. I think even Mr W wiped the odd tear! You can really see why families love it at Bluestone Wales.
Since I visited Bluestone Wales last a few things have changed. The Serendome is new to us and looks a fun place to spend a few hours if you have kids. Another thing that has changed is that you can download the Bluestone Wales app and use this to book activities and locate your lodge on the map. Very useful late at night after a glass of wine, I can tell you.
I am also always impressed with Bluestone Wales' eco-friendly credentials. They make it easy for guests to recycle waste, and you can see they do everything they can to respect the environment.
One day after a walk around the resort we came across beehives, that were fenced off. Encouraging bees are great for the environment as they are pollinators of flowers, as well as being great at making honey.
The lake is also a lovely area to walk around and feed the ducks.
What Mr W and I like about the lodges in Bluestone Wales, is that they are so warm and cosy. We just like walking around the resort, stopping for a cup of tea or coffee in the cafe and then going back to the lodge to work. In the afternoon we take a short drive to Tenby or Narbeth for lunch and then come back to the park for our evening meal.
This time we didn't plan any activities, as we have done many of them in the past so we just relaxed in the resort. However, if you want to plan activities with the family, you could do anything from axe throwing and archery to high ropes and zip wires to canoeing and biking. That's the beauty of a stay in Bluestone Wales, You can do as much or as little as you want.
We enjoyed our stay in Bluestone Wales. This is our fourth visit now and it just gets better and better. The activities for kids are outstanding and perhaps in the future, they will look at increasing activities for adults. Our only disappointment was that the Knight's Tafarn pub was closed during our stay for maintenance and upgrades. The spa is lovely but it is small. A few more activities for adults wouldn't go amiss.
Our midweek stay in a Dinas lodge for 4 nights for up to 8 people would have cost £379. With the use of the facilities, I think this is a good value if you have a large family. Thank you Bluestone Wales for inviting us to review, our stay was complimentary but our food and drink was paid for. Highly recommended.
