Term trip fun in wonderful Wales

I’m one of those bold mammies who takes her child out of school during term time to go on holiday. Did you miss me last week? We were all off on a random late March break in Bluestone National Park Resort in Wales and what a few days we had.

If you are yet to book your summer holiday then read on, because this place was the absolute business for both Daddy Chambers and I, and also for Aidan and Sarah.

So whereabouts is Bluestone National Park Resort? It’s in Pembrokeshire in Wales. We flew in to Cardiff (meant to be Bristol but missed the flight. That’s a whole other story), hired a small car and drove the hour and a half journey to the resort.
Bristol is a further 40 minutes down the motorway so depending on the price of the flights you have two options there. Of course another option is to sail from Rosslare to Pembroke.

Bluestone National Park Resort is 500 acres of pure family fun and we spent four nights there last week. It’s like a Center Parcs resort with self-catering accommodation, leisure facilities, walks, shops and restaurants and even a spa for the adults. We deserve to have fun on our holidays too, don’t we?

First things first, let's talk about our abode for the four days. Our lodge was hands down the best-quality self catering accommodation we have ever stayed in. I normally find self-catering accommodation in family resorts a bit ‘meh’ and just thrown together.

Not Bluestone though. We had the most amazing three-bedroom lodge, which had a huge open-plan kitchen, diner and sitting room. There was one twin bedroom downstairs with a big bathroom with a shower and bath, and upstairs on the mezzanine level were the remaining two bedrooms, which were both ensuite.

Also upstairs, on the landing and tucked into a nook, was a TV and a big bean bag for the kids, which came in handy in the evenings before bedtime.

Outside we had a front and a back garden with a picnic bench for eating. The lodge was really well stocked, with plenty of everything a family could need for cooking and eating in.

Before we checked in, we went to a local Tesco and did a big shop in order to keep costs down and not be eating every meal out. There is a well-stocked shop on site but, as you can imagine, it’s much more expensive than the big supermarkets are but it did come in handy when this mammy ran out of wine!

It’s next to impossible to be bored in Bluestone. Including in the price is full access to the kids adventure centre and to the Blue Lagoon Waterpark. The latter was the best thing about the week for us. We spent hours on end in the indoor water park every day, and even then Aidan and Sarah had to be dragged out of it kicking and screaming.

The Blue Lagoon has slides galore (kids have to be 1.2 metres to be allowed on), a wave pool, a thing called the Lazy River, a baby pool, a jacuzzi and a pirate ship play area. It was so much fun.

The Adventure Centre is basically a really big play centre, which we visited twice, while the playground in the resort’s village was a huge hit also.

We were really lucky with the weather. The sun beamed all week and aside from being in the pool, we were all outdoors for the most part.

One of the huge highlights of Bluestone was the Winter Lights in the forest close to the village. Once darkness came, you could wander through the illuminated forest that was transformed into a magical wonderland. Aidan and Sarah were in awe of it and so was I, to be honest. There was a pixie village, laughing trees, giant foxes and snakes, and general cool psychedelic magic.

Like our lodge, we found the food at Bluestone to be of a really high standard. There are three restaurants onsite, two of which we ate in; The Farmhouse Bar and Grill and The Tavern, which also serves food. Kids menus aren’t just made up of nuggets and chips and the food was delicious. There’s also an artisan chip van onsite which served up yummy fare that we took back to our lodge one evening.

There are many extra activities you can pay for at Bluestone, but we didn’t bother as the kids were happy in the pool and playground. However, you can avail of rock climbing, kayaking on the lake, ranger school, evening dinners with entertainment, puppet shows for the little ones and spear throwing, to name but a few.

I personally and highly recommend the Well Spa, which is an adult-only paradise. Myself and himself both treated ourselves to a massage and a trip to the thermal suite, and it was heaven to escape the kids for a few hours.

The resort is big and you are not permitted to take your car in. You’re allowed drive it to your lodge to unpack but thereafter you have to drop it back to the car park. With that in mind golf buggy or bike hire is almost essential.

The buggies were all booked out when we were there so we got bikes with trailers for the kids, which was great fun and kept them from moaning about being tired all the time.

Bluestone was definitely one of the best places we’ve ever visited as a family and we will return. And if you’re looking for a great family break I can highly recommend the place.

Until next week, folks!

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