It also ranked ahead of heavyweights like Haven, Warner, Butlins and Parkdean.
This remote corner of the UK is magical. It is steeped in history and home to the most beautiful landscapes. Stone burial chambers date back 4,000 years, standing stones inscribed with Latin and Ogham (an ancient Irish) dot the countryside and wrapped around it all is one of the most striking coastlines anywhere, where waves roll in over pristine sandy beaches or smash violently against towering rock faces.
At the heart of it all is the Bluestone National Park Resort, set within 500 acres of wild Welsh countryside. A holiday park it may be, but Bluestone wants you to feel like you are part of the Pembrokeshire panorama that surrounds you on all sides. So well-absorbed is the resort into its surroundings that despite its size and its hundreds of lodges you’d scarcely have any clue it was there until you were well inside.
But that’s not to say it’s not also a modern and luxurious holiday experience, especially where its new lodges are concerned. They took my breath away.
Bluestone in a nutshell
Most of Bluestone is made up of its 300 or so beautiful wooden lodges of various sizes dotted across hills not far from the pretty town of Narberth. The centre of the resort is its purpose-built village home to a couple of dozen charming, colourful stone cottages, a handful of restaurants, some shops (selling a wide range of Welsh foods, beers, spirits and toys), a spa and a pub with a beer garden conveniently a playground.
Also in the resort is a large indoor play area called The Hive (with one of the best features you’ll find in any indoor play area – more on that later), the Blue Lagoon, a large swimming area with indoor and outdoor slides and a wave machine, and the Serendome, a covered indoor-outdoor adventure play area featuring everything from a theatre to an extensive aerial adventure course. Generally speaking, the resort is probably better for younger children rather than teenagers (mine are 10 and under) but you can make your own call on that.
I’ve been holidaying here for a decade. My children have grown up coming here almost every year of their lives so it already holds a special place in my family’s hearts. We’ve just returned from our most recent visit, which coincided with winter turning to spring (though no one told the Welsh weather that). I’d go back tomorrow.
Accommodation: The lodges
There’s only one place to start and that’s with Bluestone’s new Platinum Collection lodges. Immaculate and beautifully-designed, these brand new lodges are on another level to any I’ve stayed in before. We stayed in a St Govan Lodge (named after one of the most striking parts of the nearby coastline) with three bedrooms sleeping six people, two bathrooms including one gorgeous en suite with rain shower, standalone bath, twin sinks and serene starlight effect lighting on the ceiling.
There was a spacious upstairs open-plan living area with a dining room, a “cwtch” (a snug room with two chairs and a TV for relaxing, working or giving the kids some quiet time) and a sun room, a stunning new feature for Bluestone lodges with two fully retractable glass walls. Even at winter’s end we opened them wide to breathe in the Pembrokeshire air and drink in those views. In summer, it would be heavenly drinking prosecco or a cold beer as well as the scenery.
The lodges come fully-equipped with an oven, microwave, fridge freezer, dishwasher and even an air fryer, which we made full use of for breakfasts and an evening meal around the six-seater dining table. After a home-cooked meal on our first night, we settled into the huge u-shaped sofa in front of a cosy electric fire.
The Platinum Lodges also come with their own electric buggy to help you get around the resort. This was the highlight of my five-year-old’s trip as we tootled along in our six-seater at 6mph engaging in the resort-wide game of “beep the horn at everyone you pass”. The lodges also have their own buggy charging point.
All Bluestone’s lodges, which sleep between two and 14 people, come with kitchen and open plan living areas, while the cottages in the village have one or two bedrooms.
Check-in
Check-in is effortless. For most of the park’s guests, it’s a drive-through process: arrive at the welcome lodge, drive around the one-way system to your own lodge, unload your car then return it to the car park at the resort’s edge and forget about it until it’s time to leave. Outside check-in and check-out times, Bluestone is a car-free resort so you can stroll the roads or drive your buggy in peace and safety.
For Platinum Collection guests, it’s even smoother. We had our own exclusive entrance, check-in lodge, car park and buggy pick-up point. There can’t have been more than five minutes between checking in and driving odoff in the buggy after a quick how-to guide.
Activities
A sign on the wall in Bluestone’s village says “there’s no bad weather in Pembrokeshire, just the wrong clothes”. As someone who visited on a weekend when the weather ran its full gamut from blue-skied bright sunshine to howling wind and driving rain, I could not agree more.
Bluestone has masses of outdoor activities for all the family, from stand-up paddleboarding on its lakes to cycling, archery, exploring its woodland trails, zip-lining or rustic outdoor eating and marshmallow-toasting at Steep Ravine and Camp Smokey (which reopen in June after storm damage forced them to close). You also have all of Pembrokeshire and its award-winning beaches on your doorstep.
But even when it rains (and it’s Wales so there’s a high chance of this) there are masses of activities under cover. My kids were entertained every minute of the day. Start the day with a swim at the Blue Lagoon Water Park, an indoor pool heated to perfection (using locally sourced biomass) with four flumes, a wave machine, toddler splash areas and a lazy river which takes you outside for a quick loop before returning indoors. It’s looking a bit tired in parts and could probably do with a bit of touching up in the not-too-distant future as it approaches its 20th birthday but that doesn’t detract from how much fun it is.
The Hive indoor activity centre has soft play, a huge bouncy castle, climbing walls, messy play, and a cafe-bar upstairs where parents can relax while the kids tire themselves out. But the highlight of my trip this time round was watching my two children try Adrenaline, a circular zipline suspended from the roof which they flew around high above the play area. They came off grinning from ear to ear.
The Serendome is an indoor-outdoor adventure play area housed under a giant transparent dome housing everything from a multi-level aerial adventure course in which kids (and adults) can ride a bike across a zipwire three storeys high to an amphitheatre-style theatre in which we watched a local male voice choir perform on St David’s Day and danced along to a silent disco. There’s also a bar and a few pop-up food stalls.
And there’s The Well Spa, a tranquil, adult-only spa offering thermal experiences, hydrotherapy, saunas, steam rooms and a range of luxury treatments. The kids’ mum headed here for two hours of peace while the youngsters used up some energy on the Serendome’s aerial adventure course.
Food and drink
One of the great joys of Bluestone for me is being able to prepare and eat a meal in a beautiful upstairs open-plan dining room with views of the countryside all around. Whether it’s breakfast in morning sunshine or a cosy evening meal and glass of red wine with the wind and rain howling outside, we always plan on having at least one family meal in the lodge.
But there are plenty of options for dining out too. Our go-to is the Farmhouse Grill, a casual and rustic restaurant serving steaks, burgers fish and kids’ dinners. The Oak Tree serves pizza and other Italian food, there’s pub food in the Knights Tafarn (where a roaring log fire keeps you warm on cold winter days and a beer garden lets you soak in the summer sunshine), fast food at the NRG Lab in The Hive and outdoor eating at Camp Smokey. The food’s not award-winning but it’s perfectly decent. There’s more refined dining at the gorgeous Black Pool Mill, a newer addition to Bluestone’s eating options which is off-site and a 20-minute walk along a well-marked path or very short drive away.
Things to do outside Bluestone
We didn’t spend a single second outside Bluestone during our three-night stay. We never do. But if you did fancy a change, Bluestone is the only UK holiday resort situated inside a national park so you’re not only immersed in protected landscapes but have easy access to land, sea and coast. You are spoilt for choice in all directions in one of the most naturally beautiful places in Britain. Five minutes down the road is the gorgeous town of Narberth, which is packed with independent shops, outstanding restaurants and has been named among the best places to live in the country.
The stunning seaside town of Tenby is 25 minutes away and is also brimming with places to eat and drink. It also has no less than four beaches within a few minutes’ walk of the town centre. The less famous, but equally charming, town of Saundersfoot is just a short drive along the coast.
A little further away you have the unique harbour village of Porthgain, which, despite being tiny and at the end of one road in and out, manages to have one of the best places to eat in Wales, as well as one of its best pubs. Also not too far away are Britain’s smallest city of St David’s, with its magnificent cathedral, the harbour village of Solva (yet another place in the area named among the best places to live), and the truly jaw-dropping St Govan’s Head, where a tiny chapel is built into the cliff face just above thundering waves below.
And then there are the world-class beaches: Barafundle, Whitesands, Freshwater West and East, Marloes Sands – it’s difficult to find the superlatives for them.
Better than Center Parcs
I have no hesitation in saying I prefer staying in Bluestone to Center Parcs. Of course, it’s all subjective but Bluestone has also been named the best holiday park in Wales (and third best in the UK) for the third year running by holidaymakers and Which? readers, beating heavyweights like Center Parcs, Haven, Warner, Butlins, Parkdean and more.
Costs
Bluestone’s prices vary by accommodation type and time of year. Here are examples of costs for the upcoming season:
- Weekend Easter break (arriving 10 April): from £645 for a 3‐night stay (up to 4 guests in a Ramsey Lodge or Caldey Deluxe).
- Midweek Spring breaks: from £300 for a 4‐night stay (up to 4 guests in a Caldey Lodge).
- The Mini Adventurer Break (from £300) is a deal designed especially for families with children under five and includes a bundle of free activities and entertainment during select midweek stays throughout the year. For qualifying dates, costs and included activities, visit https://www.bluestonewales.com/offers/free-activities-entertainment
- For any other costs, please get in touch or visit https://bookings.bluestonewales.com/search-rates
- All breaks include unlimited access to the Blue Lagoon water park, free indoor and outdoor play areas in The Hive, Serendome and village. Several activities do cost extra and need to be booked in advance: I would thoroughly recommend the 90-minute Sky Walk aerial adventure course (from £30, there’s also a Sky Walk Mini for smaller kids at £12.95), the Adrenaline circular zipline (£18 for two rounds) and the silent disco (from £5).
- A meal for four including drinks at the Knights Tafarn pub cost £73 while a meal for seven including drinks and a bottle of wine at Farmhouse Grill came in at £220.
- Access to the Celtic Thermal Suite to enjoy its steam rooms, sauna, ice pod and hydrotherapy pool costs from £20 and a Signature Massage costs from £75.