Hurst House on the Marsh
Carmarthen Bay, United Kingdom[view map]
Local restaurants
For drinks and traditional Welsh cuisine, diminutive former vicarage The Cors Restaurant & Gardens (+44 (0)1994 427219) is a fine-dining must-visit. Owner Nick often joins his patrons for a bite, or, even more frequently, for a drink. Take to the romantically lit, landscaped gardens before dinner, armed with a G&T. The Portreeves (+44 (0)1994 427476) is renowned for its home-cooked local recipes, and great for an intimate supper. In Porthgain, a 45-minute drive away from Laugharne, popular bar-cum-eatery The Shed is run by a fisherman; select from his daily seafood-tastic catch (+44 (0)1348 831518).
Local bars
A short stroll from the hotel, and also owned by the Hurst House crew, New Three Mariners (+44 (0)1994 427426) pours a mean pint and is a magnet for locals – who also favour Brown’s Hotel, one of Dylan Thomas’ favourite local drinking haunts (01994 427320).
Local cafes
In Laugharne, The Pea Green Boat (+44 (0)1994 427870) is a stone-built café, restaurant and deli. Drop by for teacakes and coffee for elevenses, a home-cooked curry for lunch, or a jar of locally produced jam to take home.
Worth getting out of bed for
Laugharne is a haven for lovers of the outdoors, and Hurst House on the Marsh can arrange clay-pigeon shooting or quad biking amid the 3,000 acres of marshy wilderness that surround the hotel. The National Botanic Gardens in Aberglasney (+44 (0)1558 668768; www.gardenofwales.org.uk) nurtures endangered species from all over the world. A trip to Laugharne, a sleepy castle town on the Taff Estuary and poet Dylan Thomas’ birthplace; you can see the boathouse where he wrote Under Milk Wood. The Welsh National Opera puts on concerts in Swansea (+44 (0)29 2046 4666; www.wno.org.uk). The beaches of Carmarthen Bay are only 15 miles away. Swiss Valley Reservoirs, near Llanelli (+44 (0)1554 752552) provides fly-fishing for brown and rainbow trout. A trip to Llundy Island (look out for puffins) can be arranged through Celtic Cruises (+44 (0)1446 734361; www.celticcruises.co.uk), which also offers other boating trips.
Diary
August The National Mud Festival of Wales, held at the Wetlands centre in Llanelli, is a weekend packed with mud safaris, mud sculptures, tug-of-war and welly-whanging competitions (+44 (0)1554 741087; www.wwt.org.uk).