FLORENCE SPRINGS, NR TENBY, PEMBROKESHIRE
Set in the beautiful Pembrokeshire countryside, Florence Springs is a little gem of luxury glamping. We stayed in Carreg House which is a little Hobbit hole.
On arrival we were met by Gareth who showed us the facilities, explained a few house rules and showed us to our own piece of Hobbiton.
Our Hobbit hole, as you can imagine, was quite small. You need to think caravan size rather than small house. The older two children loved the bunk beds in the open plan lounge and the main bedroom, which was sectioned off by a stud wall and two doors, was pleasantly comfortable. It was however a real squeeze to fit the travel cot in and we did feel quite cramped. Also, I would definitely not recommend a Hobbit house for children under about five years old. They are not child friendly at all. The wood burning stove does not have a guard around it and there is a slightly raised hearth which was a trip hazard. Electrics inside were powered by a solar panel and Gareth advised us, during the day, we should try not to switch the lights on to ensure we had enough power for the evenings. This was never a problem and actually we preferred our own battery powered light and torches to the bright light above our heads. There was a USB point on the wall in the house, but it charged phones very slowly and obviously used solar power. We opted to charge electronics in the locker provided at the shower block, (see below).
Outside there was a grassy area, but it was surrounded by brambles, so we couldn’t really let the youngest child play around the house. The outdoor kitchen was well equipped with cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils and the small campfire was adequate to cook campfire style dishes such as jacket potatoes, chilli and breakfast.
So what facilities are there? Well, there is a lovely clean shower block with hot running water. All Hobbit holes, Yurts and Treehouse have a shelf in the freezer with plenty of ice packs. There is also a secure locker for each unit on site with USB ports should you wish to keep in contact with the outside world. Each unit is also assigned one small cart which can be used to transport luggage to the accommodation and also to collect wood.
The house rules are:
- One cart full of wood per day, (extra cart loads of £5.00 each). We didn’t use more than one per day and ended up with surplus by the end of the week.
- The wood burning hot tub is easy to use but there are rules about not getting water into the burning bit and switch the tap to drain it on the morning of departure.
- The very natural loo has two compartments. I think you can guess what both are for. Toilet paper only goes down one of them!
The weather wasn’t too bad when we visited. It did rain on a few days which made everywhere damp and I could understand why some people decided to leave, but we threw ourselves into camping life, made the best of it, and enjoyed ourselves. The older two children loved it, especially our 10 year old. His daily jobs included collecting firewood, which was a big hit, and both children enjoyed the table tennis table and Swingball that was provided. There was also a football net available.
At the shower block, which was a short walk away from our house, there were flushing toilets, but outside our Hobbit hole there was a natural toilet as mentioned previously. This was very rustic but, if desperate, it did the job very well.
The surrounding area offers a plethora of tourist attractions and stunning beaches. All in all a lovely week was spent in delightful surroundings. I was relieved the weather wasn’t any wetter and I imagine it would have been idyllic if it had been a hot and sunny week.
If you are looking for a luxury self catering holiday, with all mod cons, this might not be for you, but if you want to try glamping and are used to camping, get back to nature and experience of Hobbit life then why not give it a go?
Last Minute Mummy rating: 3.5/5
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