Our first family trip to Bluestone
We recently recieved an email from one of our lovely guests telling us all that they got up to during their recent family holiday in the early Summer sunshine at Bluestone. We liked it so much we thought we would share it with you! Our Midweek at Bluestone National Resort Wales.
We have a family of seven with five kids and the grown-ups (I use this term loosely) two boys (5 years old) and three girls (9, 10, 11). We recently had one of the best family breaks we have ever had. We decided to change it up a little and rather than laze around by a pool this summer we wanted something a little more family friendly without compromising on the luxury of a holiday.
Bluestone seemed the best option, focusing on family fun and with our age range of kids it seemed perfect. Monday We arrived at Bluestone at just after lunch time and checked in with a wonderful welsh greeting ‘Croeso’ this means welcome, and welcome we felt. The lovely people in the arrivals lodge checked us in swiftly and gave us instructions and directions on what we needed to do and handed us the keys to our home for the next 4 nights.
We were staying in a Grassholm. We chose this particular style lodge because it suited our family dynamic well with a wet room and bedroom downstairs for the 11yo (as she likes her own space) and the 3pm check-in which is great when you have 5 kids and all their stuff to sort for the holiday!
After parking up we had a little explore and found a cute little cafe called Ty Coffi and had my much needed caffeine hit and treated the kids to an ice cream while we waited for our check-in time to our lodge. The coffee was great and the staff were very friendly. At 3pm we jumped back into the car and drove down to our lodge.
We paid a preference fee to be in Preseli View 51. We chose this lodge for the views. They are spectacular and even though the resort is mostly car free this particular lodge is in a little cul de sac so it feels even safer. We had dinner looking over the mountains on the patio once we unpacked.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning was swimming time. We all headed off to the Blue Lagoon for some fun, slides and waves. Then it was time for some activities. Into the Wild with Smokey Joe, his cousin Digger and their pet owl Frodo, Frodo was the cutest. We built dens and made little boats and raced them down the stream. Then there were marshmallows!
We followed this with an impromptu lunch in Camp Smokey. Hotdogs and burgers all round in the indoor/outdoor lodge with a bar... As we didn’t have plans for the afternoon, we moseyed on up to the village where the kids were left to play in the village green and we watched with a nice cool glass of wine outside on the pubs decking.
Wednesday
We had a free morning so decided to take a walk down the nature trail and explore the local woodlands. We discovered the ruin of Castell Coch and then walked back to the village where we found some entertainers who were running a little surprise craft session for the children which was great! Wales is so beautiful and Bluestone just encompasses this beauty with its natural hills and ravines. With this it allows you to see so much of the countryside, we decided to make the most of this by having a picnic up on the hill near the ‘Bluestone’.
This has tremendous views of the Preseli’s and on a clear day you can see for miles. After this glorious lunch with a view we were fully prepared for our 3 hour Go Wild activity. This was the best fun we have had. All the kids and us were fully engrossed in this activity and made this into real adventure.
I felt like Bear Grylls after emerging from the woods and geo cacheing my way around to different activities and making nettle tea. The kids enjoyed it too but I think I probably immersed myself more than most!
Even the 11yr old, often too cool to do anything, got involved and cracked a smile. In the evening we sent the kids off to games night where they have a mini team build and play all sorts of games while we grownups had a glorious meal in the Oak tree. This is a quaint yet quirky restaurant with an Italian themed menu. I had some pretty epic pasta while the other half had a giant pizza of which he couldn’t finish, I did tell him his eyes were bigger than his belly! The kids came back buzzing from games night but absolutely exhausted and drifted straight to sleep.
Thursday
Adventure centre and pampering day... the boys went off and explored the Adventure Centre while we girls went to the Well Spa for some pampering. We all had our nails done which was a nice little treat. The girls in the Spa were so lovely and made us feel very welcome and my nails look brilliant.
Our last evening was spent taking part in the Green Man parade to the village with all the things the kids had made on their activities.They were chanting and singing all the way down (even the mini teenager!) it was full of fun finishing off with a mini party in the village.
The nice thing for grownups is it’s right in the centre of the village so we could order dinner from the Tafarn and the children could play and join in with the entertainment until the food arrived. This was the pinnacle of the week and rounded it all off so wonderfully.
Bluestone all in all is a perfect family resort. The staff from the moment we arrived to the minute we left were so helpful and really wanted to make our stay great, even the little things like saying hello as we passed them or going above and beyond if the kids were feeling particularly fussy at dinner they made sure they were happy.