Penally Abbey Blog

Christmas 2018 has arrived at our little hotel by the sea...This will be our fifth Christmas at Penally Abbey. Our fifth year of decorating this beautiful building and learning what works for both our guests and ourselves at this magical time of year. When we first took over the hotel I had very little understanding of what Christmas spent at a hotel entailed.I was naïve and unaware that...

...and other great Christmas events in Pembrokeshire!The festive season is firmly on the way here at Penally Abbey as large, jingling bags of decorations are being brought precariously down from the attic in preparation. The date is in the diary for the Christmas trees to be delivered from our local garden centre at Lydstep, and the anticipation is mounting as we start thinking about which Christmas...

September has arrived and whilst the school summer holidays have ended, it feels as though it is the adults turn to pack their bag and escape to the seaside. With 52 beautiful empty beaches to chose from and the weather still reaching 20 degrees, it is the perfect time to take a holiday to Wales. If, unlike me, you require a little extra convincing when deciding on whether to head to Penally ...

When running a hotel in Pembrokeshire, within the UK’s biggest coastal national park, we feel it is integral to welcome dogs! With the majority of our front of house staff owning dogs, and the hotel having two friendly spaniels, we have an abundance of advice on where the best spots to take your furry friend are.  Here is the roundup of the best beaches, pubs, walks and places of interest...

 Summer has arrived in all its glory. With Mediterranean temperatures, blazing sunshine and endless blue skies, Pembrokeshire has captured the hearts of all who have visited its beaches and basked in its staggering beauty over the past few weeks. Some say that it has felt as though they have been abroad, however I believe that when the weather is wonderful in Wales, there truly is no better...

Those who travel to Pembrokeshire tend not to come for theme parks, packed out beaches and wild night life, but to escape to the coast for lazy, tranquil days exploring the coast line and watching vast arrays of wildlife in their natural habitat. Skomer Island is a place I would describe as being the pinnacle of what Pembrokeshire represents and offers, completely breath taking, unspoilt natural...

The Little Black Book of Wedding ContactsWedding season is well and truly underway and with the royal wedding being viewed by over two billion people across the globe, we felt it was time to share our little black book of wedding contacts.It can be an agonising decision choosing who will do your photos, plan your day, feed you and your guests and style your hair for your wedding, which ...

MAYFestival of the SeaSaturday 19th May | Gupton Farm, Freshwater WestOn Saturday 19th May the National Trust and Pembrokeshire Beach Food are coming together to celebrate all things coastal for Visit Wales' 'Year of the Sea' 2018. The festival will be located just up the hill from Freshwater West at Gupton Farm. It promises to be a fantastic day full of innovative Pembrokeshire based artists...

...and the sunroom is back!As I write this blog, I am sitting in the beautifully serene sun room high up on the hillside in Penally. It seems almost a cliche to describe the scene before me as I gaze across a calm, glassy sea, with only the magical sound of the birds singing and distant waves hitting the shore as I write.Today, at long last the sun is shining and I am thrilled that we are...

Escaping to Pembrokeshire for Easter couldn't be more fun filled and rejuvenating! The hedgerows are full of wild Spring flowers and the sleepy coastal towns are coming back to life ready to welcome back smiling visitors with a fresh lease of life.  Waving goodbye to the dark months of Winter we are ready to welcome the arrival of buckets and spades, children eating ice creams ...

HAPPY ST. DAVID'S DAYAs a little girl born and bred in South Wales, March 1st meant being dressed up by my parents and sent off to school wearing a little welsh girls outfit, complete with a little black hat and a wilting daffodil pinned to my front. Welsh songs would be sung and the famous welsh cakes would be devoured. THE PENALLY ABBEY WELSH CAKE COMPETITIONAs an adult however, our traditions...

Since bidding our final guests of 2017 farewell on the 1st January it has been all hands on deck carrying out the last bits of work to complete our original vision of Penally Abbey. Going into our fourth year at the hotel is quite surreal and as we wipe away the final bits of dust, in the last of the newly refurbished bathrooms, it is hard to remember where we were at the beginning.It has been an ...

The Penally Abbey team gives the low down on true romance...Here at the hotel we're very proud to be able to confidently say that all of our staff are Pembrokeshire's biggest advocates and that they all have fantastic knowledge of where to go and what to do. After several discussions with our hilariously vocal team about their views on Valentine's Day and more importantly, what...

This year Visit Wales is celebrating the ‘Year of the Sea’ and I couldn't think of a better focus for the New Year. Pembrokeshire provides a never ending source of adventure and beauty to all that visit, and the sea is at the heart of what makes it so special.In celebration of 'Year of the Sea, 2018' we will be doing a feature each month, via both our newsletters and blog, on our...

There is something very magical about being in the countryside during the Autumn and Winter months as the skies change and the gardens gain a magical layer of twinkling frost each morning. Christmas time in Pembrokeshire is more exceptional in its never-ending beauty than any other time of the year. I always feel that Christmas in and around Penally village is a much more ...