Beautiful Bluestone

Our Grassholm lodge

At the end of last month we went on our third getaway to Bluestone Resort in Wales, and it did not disappoint!

I always thought of myself as a 'one person trip' to stay at a hotel/resort/holiday park etc but Bluestone is somewhere I'd return to regularly. First of all its' beautiful, tranquil National Park setting is perfect  when you want a break, whether it's as a family, as a couple or with friends, I believe there's something for everyone! From woodland walks, to play areas, to the pub, to the spa, there are plenty of things to do at Bluestone!

Secondly from what I have seen of Pembrokeshire it is absolutely beautiful, and there's still so much I haven't seen!

What's Included In A Bluestone Break?

When you book a holiday at Bluestone, free entry into the Adventure Centre and Blue Lagoon is included. Guided walks, outdoor play areas and seasonal festivals are also included at no extra cost, to find out more click here. There are plenty of other activities available for all ages that can be booked and paid for.

Accommodation At Bluestone

There is a variety of lodges and cottages available to book to suit your individual requirements, from couples to large families or groups there will be somewhere ideal, including interconnecting lodges. 

Our Stay At Bluestone

Monday

We left later than originally planned and had a couple of stops on route for food and coffee. It's a pretty long journey for us so next time I'd definitely consider leaving on the Sunday and staying overnight along the way in somewhere like Cardiff. When we were about twenty minutes away from Bluestone Nola got quite upset, I think she'd had enough of travelling so breaking up the journey would work well for us I think. Maps on my phone gave a travel time of just under four hours but of course you then have to factor in any stops or traffic you may come across. I think our journey was between the five and six hour mark.

We arrived to the usual friendly check in just after 7pm. Our lodge was immaculate as they have been on our previous visits.
Once we'd unloaded the car we headed to Aldi in Haverford West to stock up for our stay. We had a late dinner in our lovely Grassholm lodge and there was sometime spent trying to get Eliot into bed, he was too excited to sleep and couldn't wait to go back and visit the Blue Lagoon!

Tuesday
This was our busiest day at Bluestone in terms of activities we had pre booked. After a relaxed breakfast in our lodge, accompanied by some seagulls Nola and I headed up to the Adventure Centre for the baby sensory class, an activity suitable for 0-13 month olds.

Some of the local wildlife!

This was the first class I'd ever taken Nola to so was really looking forward to it.  When we arrived we got comfy and settled on our mat. Once everyone had arrived the lady leading the session introduced herself and explained what would be happening during the session. Everyone then introduced their baby before things got started. A variety of activities followed giving each baby opportunites to get involved. There were musical instruments, different textured balls, toys, materials for the babies to use their senses to explore. The different activities were introduced separately enabling the babies to have a go before clearing away and starting the next one, aiming to prevent the babies from becoming too overwhelmed. One of the last little activities was banana tasting, which Nola loves but unfortunately she had fallen asleep after all the excitement! It was a really lovely relaxed class, perfect for Nola. As she is delayed in her development due to her condition she didn't wasn't 'too old' being at the older end of the class age range. I certainly recommend booking on to the sensory class if your staying with a baby!
Whilst I'd been in the class with Nola, Eliot had been with dad collecting bikes to use for the duration of our stay, before making the most of indoor play and mini golf elsewhere in the Adventure Centre. I met with him, swapped children and then took Eliot down to Camp Smokey for the 'Into The Wild' activity. There is space for twelve children on this activity but Eliot got a 1:1 experience! It was onlysometime after I realised there were no older children because our break was in term time.

All ready & camouflaged!

We met 'Smokey Joe' who led us to base camp in search of her cousin 'Digger'. On route they added some camouflage to their faces using mud and leaves. Smokey Joe explained to Eliot that Digger lived with her but she wanted him to help her build a new home for Digger as she snored too much!

 We found Digger at base camp and she was promptly told she needed to move out before they began 'building' her a new home,  I also helped (a little bit) after some encouragement to get involved from everyone else!

Building a new home for Digger!

Attempting to make it waterproof

 Once the home was complete and tested on how watertight it was, we warmed up by the camp fire and ate a welsh cake!
We then got into teams, Eliot & Smokey Joe and myself and Digger to make a raft to race down the stream. We searched for twigs to create our masterpieces which I must admit I was pretty poor at and Digger did most of the 'building'!

Eliot with 'The Black Pearl'

Collecting the rafts after the race

 After the 'Rusty Bucket and 'The Black Pearl' were safely retrieved post race, a very special visitor made their way to base camp, Frodo the owl.

 I think I was more excited about Frodo! I'm a big fan of birds of prey and being this close certainly makes me in awe of them!

Eliot got to 'fly' Frodo and ask questions about him, it's not everyday you get to fly a bird of prey so this was fantastic! After Frodo left we toasted marshmallows over the camp fire, a nice way to end the session!

Eliot had instructed everyone to do  a 'Captain Jack' pose

This activity was my favourite, I'll 'fess up and say I'm a bit of a 'no mum' and the thought of Eliot smearing mud on himself on a regular day would probably have me shouting about dirt and germs! It was so lovely just to watch him immerse himself in all the activities and do things he hasn't done very often. It was certainly beneficial for him and he throughly enjoyed it. The two members of staff were fantastic too as I think in some respects it's tricky to run an activity that is planned for groups for an individual but they were both great!

After lunch and a break back at the lodge we walked up to Blue Lagoon, which Eliot had been going on about for weeks and couldn't wait to get in the pool!
 The under fives area was closed but all other parts of the pool were open, Eliot tried out a couple of the slides and spent a lot of his time in on them. We also enjoyed the lazy river and wave machine before it was almost closing time.
The family changing facilities are just what you need with little ones to get everyone changed. If you spend a long time at the pool, have family who don't wish to swim or simply fancy a drink or snack there's a cafe poolside to fulfil your snacking needs!

After our swim we headed straight down to Camp Smokey for 'Smokey Joe's Shindig' which is held on various evenings throughout the week depending on the time of year (it's closed between November & February) and involves eating, drinking and dancing! Included in your ticket is the food and live music, drinks are purchased from the bar.

I was very much looking forward to eating and enjoying music Al Fresco in the wood! On arrival we were greeted by 'Smokey Joe' and 'Digger' (the first) and put in Digger's blue team. We then had blue paint smeared on our faces. The red and blue team had to to compete to see who'd get their dinner first. Dancing and stomping were strongly encouraged, especially on chairs! The red team won so us blues had to wait a little longer before we could collect our dinner which consisted of a burger, sausage, pulled pork, BBQ beans and roasted potatoes. For pudding there was a choice of brownie or choc ice, brownie is always a winner for me! The evening ended with some familiar songs played by the live music act. I had such a good time I forgot to take any photos but did take some video clips, this is my favourite showing how much Nola enjoys music and dancing! 

I would certainly book the shindig again, the experience of eating down in the woods, singing and dancing was brilliant!

Wednesday

After breakfast in our lodge we headed out of Bluestone to the nearby Tenby which I'm sure hosts one of the best beaches in the UK! It is such a pretty little seaside town with shops and lanes to explore about a twenty five minute drive from Bluestone.

We had a relaxed mosey before having a coffee break. Then headed down to the harbour where we had a pit stop to give Nola her lunch.

 After enjoying just sitting back and taking everything in we walked over to the beach where Eliot was literally living his best life playing with a bucket and spade in the soggy sand. if we'd been there from 9am-5pm I'm sure he would have happily spent the entire time on the beach!

Before driving back to Bluestone we had fish and chips for dinner, you just have to have it when you're at the seaside!
There are so many more things to do at Tenby, such as visit the Tudor Merchant house, go on a boat trip or visit the castle. It's a must do if you holiday anywhere nearby!
We had booked Eliot on a 'Games Night' back at Bluestone which is an activity where you can leave your child/ren unaccompanied and enjoy some time alone to make the most of Bluestone! They had called us in the morning to let us know Eliot was the only one booked on the games night (again because it was in term time) and to see if he still wanted to participate. He had initially wanted to still join in but when he arrived and could see he was the only one there he changed his mind. It was a shame but I was impressed the staff had called to let us know the situation in the morning, rather than turning up to drop Eliot off and then being informed.

Thursday 
We spent the full day in Bluestone beginning with a leisurely start to the day by relaxing in the lodge. Eliot did get taken to the adventure centre again to enjoy more time in the indoor play area.
Lunch was something I had been looking forward to as we had booked it down at Camp Smokey, where my love for al fresco dining grew!
We rode our bikes down to the parking area ready for a woodland adventure after lunch.
This time we ordered from the menu and waited for our order number to be called to go and collect it.

I ordered 'smores' for pudding which I enjoyed and got to toast marshmallows over the fire again which was lots of fun in the surroundings.
Afterwards we collected out bikes and went on a little woodland adventure on one of the trails in Bluestone. It was only when we were down in the woods a family we rode past said it looked like my back tyre was punctured. On stopping and inspecting it was clear it was flat so I had to abandon my 'ride' and settle for pushing it, which I really didn't mind as I was appreciating how peaceful and calming the woods were.

 It was wonderful to feel like I was 'away from it all', hearing only woodland noise like the rushing water of the stream or the crack and crunch of sticks under your feet.

Hiring or bringing your own bikes to get around Bluestone is a great way to explore but if you're a very inexperienced bike rider like myself be warned, there are LOTS of hills, easy to get down, not so easy to get back up!

After our little adventure we arrived back to the village just in time for the village festival which is part of the Bwbach Festival running from September 3rd to November 4th.

Eliot enjoyed getting involved with the dancing before he spent time in the play area.

We then went back to our lodge for our last night at Bluestone, having dinner and getting packed for the journey home.

Friday

Check out time at Bluestone is 10am, once we'd loaded the car and vacated our lovely lodge, we took the bikes back. Then went to the Adventure centre for Eliot to enjoy one last play and had lunch at the Wildwood Cafe.

One thing we almost forgot to enjoy was the circus room, which is upstairs in the Adventure Centre for under fives.

Four Nola's!

Nola had a wonderful time watching the sensory bubble machine and enjoying the soft play area. Eliot also enjoyed having a play in here, it was interesting watching him as the last time he was in there he was under two!
Then reluctantly, we dragged our feet back to the car park to make the journey home. None of us wanted to leave which speaks volumes about how wonderful Bluestone resort is!

Why Visit Bluestone?
All of us 101% recommend Bluestone as a holiday, what we got up to is just a fraction of what you can do at the resort and there is plenty more to see and do in Pembrokeshire.
The staff are very pleasant and helpful.
You have the option to cook what you fancy in your accommodation but if you don't want to cook you can choose from a selection of places to dine in Bluestone.
There are seasonal themes and activities.

I mean I could go on but you have to experience a stay yourself, even if you're not really an 'outdoorsy' person like myself, you will want to get out, enjoy and make the most of the surroundings and facilities!

Have you been to Bluestone?

*We received a stay at Bluestone and use of bikes in return for a post. All opinions are my own

Photos credit: Photos marked with MPP were taken by Meet Petty Photography

Bluestone National Park Resort...The REVIEW!

Over the past couple of weeks you might have read a few posts about our trip to Bluestone and what we got up to on our break. It was a much needed little holiday after a rather stressful beginning to 2015. Now comes the review, what we really thought about our getaway to  Bluestone.

Check In

We arrived late Monday night, after half eleven! I'd had a bit of a panic on route about whether or not we'd actually be able to get in. So the other half called ahead to let them know and we were reassured by a very pleasant member of staff that check in was 24 hour and that there was no need to rush.

When we did rock up there was no need to park up and find reception, someone had the genius idea of a drive through check in which was perfect! I just gave the booking name and was handed a map, booklet and timetable of events for the week. We followed the one way system for cars to our lodge which almost took us back to where we'd started. Cars should be parked in the car park once you've unloaded unless you have permission to park it outside your lodge. There are bikes and buggies available for hire if you don't fancy getting around by foot every day.

 

The Lodge

Our Gateholm Lodge in Preseli View

We stayed in a Gateholm, a three bed, two bathroom lodge which sleeps six people. Two of our friends were meant to be joining us but unfortunately couldn't  due to sickness. A bit of a bonus as it meant we had the lodge to ourselves.

As soon as we stepped in to our lodge we were highly impressed, it looked immaculately clean and felt very homely. All lodges come with a travel cot and highchair as standard, which I think is great as other holiday parks we've been to or looked in to have charged extra. If there's more than one baby/tot staying in the lodge all you need to do is let them know when booking.

I'd been looking forward to experiencing the 'upside down living' and the open plan kitchen, dining and lounge area did not disappoint!





As you can see it is very spacious with plenty of room to cook, eat, play or relax! I adored the modern purple kitchen which was fully equipped with everything you needed should you wish to make a cuppa or to cook 'proper' meals. There is also a dishwasher so there's no pressure for anyone to be standing at the sink doing the washing up. A nice touch that was awaiting us was a little pack with a mini bottle of washing up liquid, dishwasher tabs, rubbish and recycling bags. Eliot was forever in the drawers and cupboards so safety locks in the kitchens could be something that could be added just to make it that extra bit family friendly.

 

There was a large dining table with six chairs, which would be great for family or friends to have dinner round. I think if there were six adults sharing it would be a bit snug on the sofas but otherwise fine for relaxing in the evenings. As well as a TV there's also a DVD player if you have time that is!  WiFi is included too, ideal for us bloggers. At first ours wasn't working so I mentioned it to a member of staff who said they'd send someone round to have a look ASAP. In the meantime I discovered a cable was out which  I hadn't noticed when I first looked...oops. Someone came round to fix it when we left the lodge. They left a note to let us know that there weren't any issues.

Downstairs was one double bedroom with an ensuite, two twin rooms and another bathroom. All of the bedrooms came with a wardrobe and chest of drawers, giving ample storage for your belongings.The bathrooms had one toilet roll each and a small soap. They were very good sized bathrooms with plenty of space. My OH is quite particular about showers and the amount of pressure they have, he had no complaints about the one we had in our ensuite!



Eliot enjoying bath time in the ensuite



We all slept very well during our stay, the bed was comfy with plump pillows. Once I fell asleep I was asleep for the night.

We were extremely happy with the Gateholm lodge, the only issue we had was with the safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. The one at the bottom of the stairs was one you pull across and I couldn't work out how to do it. The one at the top had a part on the hinge side which kept coming out  every time we tried to close/open it. It was simple to fix but a pain as it was repetitive. I'm sure if I'd reported it to staff they would've popped over to try and sort it as they did with the internet.

Here's a nose around the lodge if you fancy it...

 

 Things To Do

There is an abundance of activities available at Bluestone, indoors or outdoors there's plenty to do. As mentioned, in the welcome pack we received a timetable of available activities for the week . Some you  pay for and some you don't. The Blue Lagoon swimming pool and adventure centre are included in your stay. The adventure centre is host to plenty of free activities, mini golf, NRG room, soft play, Lego, the tower and the circus zone. We spent some time in the adventure centre on the Tuesday, Eliot enjoyed jumping on the bouncy castle, playing in the ball pool and soft play. We had lunch in the Wildwood café, you can read more about what we got up to here. 

 

We only visited the Blue Lagoon once during our stay, mainly due to there being so many options of what to do, not only in the resort but further afield too. Eliot LOVED splashing about in the main pool with its fountains and waves. It's really spurred me on to get Eliot to swimming lessons not only is it fun, it's a life saving skill as well. In this diary post you can read more about what we thought of the Blue Lagoon.

As I mentioned before there were plenty of chargeable activities too. From messy and sensory play for babies and tots, to tree climbing and archery for older children and adults, to the well spa retreat. There was so much to choose from, we felt we didn't have enough time to do everything we would've liked to do.

I think how much you can make the most of your break depends on what time of year you go and the weather conditions. We were blessed with lovely weather, cold but sunny during our stay. I don't think I would've enjoyed the experience as much if it had been pouring with rain the entire week!

 

Places To Eat

There were several places to eat in Bluestone. The Village was home to the main places, The Farmhouse Grill which also offered a takeaway service, Carreg Las and the Knights Tafarn. It also had a bakery too. We only got round to trying out the Farmhouse Grill, a family restaurant which offers a variety of dishes from the grill and on Sunday's offers a traditional carvery. I wrote about what we thought of the Farmhouse Grill here.

The Knights Tafarn is a traditional style pub offering 'pub grub' and traditional  & ales. Carreg Las is more focussed on adults and there are no children allowed after 7pm which has it's pros and cons for different guests. I would've liked to have dined here if we'd had a babysitter for Eliot!

As well as the main restaurants there is the Fish Shack in the Blue Lagoon, the Wildwood Café in the Adventure Centre and Camp Smokey outdoors in the Steep Ravine. 

I felt there were plenty of dining options to choose from and if you did need to stock up in your lodge, the Newton Village shop gave you that option, even if prices were higher than your usual supermarket.

 

 

Overall Thoughts...

Our experience at Bluestone resort overall was fantastic and we wouldn't have second thought about booking a holiday there again. The setting is stunning and there are so many activities to choose from, the only problem is doing everything you'd like to do. My tip would be to plan ahead, check what activities you'd like to do and places you'd like to visit outside of the resort. That will enable you to be more organised and get the most out of your break.

 

The Great...

• The scenery is beautiful
• Relaxing as it is quiet and peaceful
• Plenty of activities aimed at different age groups
• Some activities are included
• WiFi in lodges at no extra cost
• Gorgeous accommodation (I can only speak for the lodge we stayed in)
• TV & DVD player in lodge
• Choice of places to eat out (if you want to)

 

The Not So Great...

• Steep walks in different areas of the resort not ideal for older people/people with mobility problems (thinking particularly about my parents) 
• Cost of buggy hire quite pricey (depends on your holiday budget)
• I feel the overall experience could be affected by the weather particularly if you plan on doing a few outdoor activities
• Current building work not the best noise/view for those staying close by (it didn't affect us but thought of those staying very near)
• Safety gates in our lodge were  not functioning properly
• On our visit to the Farmhouse Grill some of the food on the children's buffet looked as though it had been lying out for ages

A video of what we got up to

 

Have you visited Bluestone, what was your favourite part of the holiday?

 

*Disclaimer: We received a 4 night break at Bluestone Resort Wales in return for an honest review









Bluestone Diaries #3

On our last proper day (Thursday) at Bluestone, we began the day with the historical walk which started off from Village Central. I definitely recommend going on the walk if you’re interested in finding out a bit of background about the land Bluestone is situated on. You’ll also be treated to a couple of spooky stories! I won’t give too much away but if you find yourself on the path/trail which runs in front of the car park and behind some lodges in Preseli View at dusk, keep an eye out for a lady in white!

Both myself and the OH found it enjoyable and very interesting, Eliot on the other hand got cranky when we stopped walking and we had to ply him with apple crisps! That’s something to bear in mind if you have toddlers or older children, the walk only lasted an hour but that’s a long time if you’re a little one.

 Our guide was very friendly, clued up on local history and very relaxed about the whole thing.

After the walk we headed back to the lodge as the OH had tree climbing (£13) booked and wanted to grab a cuppa before heading off to Camp Smokey. Eliot was booked in for toddler sensory (£7) at 1:30pm and therefore needed a nap and lunch beforehand. So we didn’t go down to the woods to watch daddy’s tree climb. He enjoyed it but found it challenging and daunting with the height.

When we arrived for toddler sensory in the circus room at the adventure centre there were lots of other tots there too. The session had a space theme and the girl who ran it was fantastic! She was bubbly, enthusiastic and made every effort to engage with the children. Eliot took quite a shine to her and they built a Lego tower together.

 The session started with free play where everyone did their own thing. Eliot had lots of fun exploring the toys and equipment in the room. The host did call everyone together for a few different activities but Eliot would just not keep still and wanted to do what he wanted to do, which meant me following him around the room. He did participate in a bit of dancing and became very excited when the bubble machine came on. I thought it was a lovely session and great for tots but perhaps older toddlers would gain more from it.

Once the session was over we took a stroll down to Camp Smokey where there were a few outdoor activities taking place. The OH showed us the trees he climbed on his tree climb and they looked blooming difficult! He hadn’t done anything like it before and it’s given him an urge to be more ‘outdoorsy’.

I found the woods such a calm, peaceful setting. The fresh air and sound of running water really made me feel like I was away from it all!

Next we finally got round to visiting the Blue Lagoon swimming pool which I’d really been looking forward to taking Eliot to. We were given passes and headed downstairs to the changing rooms. There are separate male and female areas but also quite a few family changing rooms. We managed to get in to one both before and after swimming, they were busy though and I imagine you may have to wait if you visit the resort at busier periods.

Eliot was so excited when he saw the pool an ran towards the little fountains as you walk in. He was happy playing with these for a while, splashing the water everywhere. We took a couple of trips around the lazy river which takes you outdoors. Eliot wasn’t too sure about this and preferred being able to stand in the shallower areas. There was a wave machine which you were warned about before they came on with a loud horn. This enabled you to move or get out if you didn’t fancy riding the waves. We also spent a very short time in the toddler pool, it had a little slide for tots go down and was nice and shallow.

After our splash around we showered back at our lodge and walked down to Village Central for dinner at the Farmhouse Grill. The restaurant offers a range of meat and fish dishes which are locally sourced. There was quite a selection to choose from, They had an offer where if you ordered a starter and main course you’d receive a dessert free. So we decided to share and ordered mushrooms for a starter. For mains I opted for the burger and the OH ordered the pork chop. When ordering, our waitress informed me that the burger was slightly spiced. This didn’t bother me as I love a but of spice! We chose the kids buffet (£4.95) for Eliot which had a small variety of options, pasta, chicken goujons, meatballs, pizza and chips. Unfortunately some of the food didn’t look too appetising as I presume it had been there for a while. If we’d been there when it was all freshly put out I think it would have been good value for money as kids could eat as much as they wanted.

The mushroom starter was gorgeous, we both really enjoyed it and found it very tasty. Salad and bread are also included with meals so you are able to go up and help yourself.

I was actually feeling a bit full after the starter and didn’t eat all of my burger. It was more on the spicy side than I'd expected, so it was a good job the staff were pre-warning people as if you don’t like spicy food I don’t think you would’ve enjoyed it. The OH enjoyed his main and ate every bit!

For dessert we had the Bailey’s ice cream pudding which was had crushed fudge and a shot of Baileys poured over with toffee sauce. We ordered a kids ice cream for Eliot as it’s normally his favourite but I think he was too tired from the busy day to enjoy it.

Our bill came to over £40 which I felt was more than what we normally pay when we eat out. We didn’t have any alcohol which can obviously increase the bill by a large amount. However I think you have to expect to pay a little more when eating on site at a resort. If all the ingredients are fresh and local then I suppose the prices are justified.

We were sad that this was our last day at Bluestone and returned to our lodge for our last night.