The Grove Inn, Narbeth - a competition win - tentatively related to St Aaron (Welsh)

The Grove, Wales

Vaguely related to St Aaron (he was born in Wales), I am relating this story. In 2019, I was lucky enough to win a night with my husband at the Grove Inn in Narbeth https://thegrove-narberth.co.uk/ with 7 course dinner, including wine flight and breakfast.  We managed to pick the busiest Friday of the year in August, and the M5 & M4 were both at a standstill for much of the journey … and there was torrential rain.  Because of this, the journey took us about 4 ½ hours and we were both fed up and wondering whether it was worth it, by the time we arrived.

We parked the car and headed into the main building where reception was signposted.  From that moment onwards, we realised that any ‘hardship’ experienced on the journey was going to be more than made up for during the 1-night stay. 

We were expected and greeted like old friends. Our ‘host’ showed us to our room which was a cottage not too far from the main building.  Everything about it was luxury, including the free mini bar which we did make use of to relieve the stressful journey.  At one end of the cottage was a sitting room with comfy sofa’s, table etc.  The other end was the bedroom with an amazingly comfortable bed and the middle section had the bathroom with 2 sinks and an iron stand-alone bath.  There were table and chairs outside which we ventured into for a short while between showers.  The grounds looked amazing, and had the weather been kinder, we would have made the most of them.

We reserved dinner for 7 and were asked to arrive 30 minutes early.  We were seated in the lounge area of the main building and brought canapes & a cocktail before entering the dinner room to start on the 7 courses.  Each course was amazing.  I meant to take lots of photo’s, but it was so good I kept forgetting and ended up taking photos of empty plates.  The wine was also amazing, with the sommelier explaining each wine in detail.  The servings of wine were very generous, to the point where I could not manage the last one … (very unusual).  The service was superb, we were spoilt rotten.

We had an excellent night’s sleep in the marshmallow bed with Egyptian cotton sheets and Breakfast was just as amazing as dinner.  There was everything you could possibly think of on the menu – all cooked to perfection. Checkout included a small gift of Welsh cakes.  The hotel was dog friendly and there were several dogs in the breakfast room, being spoilt with sausages and the like.  As a dog lover, it was great to see.

With travelling for work and travelling for pleasure, I have spent a lot of nights in hotels in various places in the World.  The Grove must be one of the top hotels I have had the pleasure of staying at.  I could not fault it in anyway.  Of course, it isn’t cheap, I think if we had paid for the night, it would have cost something in the region of 650GBP, way more than I could afford to pay for one night, however, coming away from there, I felt more relaxed than a week away at most places I have stayed.

Thank you to The Grove for an amazing night.