It’s all so exotic. The famous sailing waters, the chic seafood eateries, the mild climate and the long sandy bays. Even the language might be unfamiliar. The Llyn Peninsula in north Wales is all a bit Hamptons and, at Peninsula Pool Retreat, 13 of you plus infants can live the Llyn life while taking regular dips in your own outdoor heated pool.
Peninsula Pool Retreat near Aberdaron is a private rural bolthole with a magnetic attraction for families and friends, hens, stags, colleagues and dogs. Slip out from the sociable spaces through French doors to eat under a parasol in the summer sunshine. Then follow the stepping stones onto the lawns to the babbling brook beyond.
Laze around the pool on loungers during the day. Gaze at stars around the firepit at night. Cook on the Aga or coal barbecue. Read books by the light of the burning logs. Keep your followers keen over the BT superfast Wi-Fi. Sleep in seven cosy bedrooms. Wake to breakfast on the patio, a morning swim and another day of chilling on the Llyn.
Explore three-quarters of an acre of meticulously manicured shrubs and greenery plus a babbling brook. Bring your dogs and kids.
Eat out in the summer sunshine on the patio under the parasol with the barbecue loaded with Abersoch crab from Terry’s butchers. Jump into the outdoor pool, tucked away privately at the rear of the garden and heated to 26 degrees from Easter to October. Finish the day around the firepit.
Spaces here are super-sociable but there’s plenty of them for anyone suffering social overload and craving a book from the shelf. Get the fire crackling in the first sitting room’s inglenook, take a pew on the leather sofas and get stuck into a book or a box set on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video streamed over superfast BT Wi-Fi.
The kitchen’s also great for congregating, with the Aga warming your evenings around the farmhouse table. Immediately off the front door, another lounge area comes with stone walls and exposed timbers. This is the place for alternative viewing or stemming the rising tide of email in the study area at the back.
That Aga might look tempting but if you’d prefer just to keep it going to keep your toes toasty, book our private chef for a one-off celebration or fully catered break. Eat around the chunky farmhouse table or head out to the patio for Mediterranean-style dining under the parasol and steaks searing on the coal barbecue.
Shop at Terry’s butchers in Abersoch for steak, cheeseburgers, kebab skewers and fresh crab. Find Asda, Lidl and Tesco in Pwllheli, get your deli delights from Becws Islyn Bakery, and fizz delivered from Llyn Wines. Tuck into takeaways from Allports Fish Bar, Splash Fish and Chips and Deli Thai in Botwnnog.
Head into Aberdaron for dinner at Gwesty Ty Newydd: maybe braised pork-belly bites with black pudding or garlic king prawns with chorizo. Eat at The Ship Hotel just yards from the shore on classic hearty dishes alongside lighter, healthy options including freshly caught fish, crab and lobster from Aberdaron’s very own fishermen.
Get right to the heart of Abersoch village life at The Vaynol, serving salad boxes, burgers and loaded fries right on the harbour. Eat at the oldest pub in Abersoch at St Tudwal’s on buttermilk chicken burger or curry of the day, or find other great eateries at Zinc Bar and Café and The Potted Lobster.
It’s pretty quiet here, where the hills lead out to the sea and with nary a neighbour in sight. Pick from seven bedrooms in the main house and annexe, sleeping 13 plus infants. Bring all the dogs you like.
The master bedroom is a kingsize built into the eaves of the property with wooden bed, leather sofa and private en-suite, while bedroom two is another kingsize. Both rooms will take a cot. Bedroom three offers single bunks and bedroom four a single bed. On the ground floor, bedroom five comes with twin singles.
In the barn annexe, bedroom six provides a kingside bed and will take a cot, while bedroom seven gives you twin singles.