Hotel of the Week: Hurst House on the Marsh
Posted by Caroline on March 4th, 2010Last week, we were asked to ferret out our finery and head west to Wales for a glitzy party on a former farm estate near Carmarthen. Armed with our Dylan Thomas verse, marsh-proof wellies and facial-thirsty faces, we willingly went to experience a night of canapés and cocktails in honour of the shiny new spa at Hurst House on the Marsh…
Style Contemporary countryside clubhouse
Setting Lost in Wales
Why this week? The Andrew Price spa and salon is now open with a bang. Book in for holistic and bespoke treatments using exclusive Elemental Herbology products that are so natural you can eat them. Really. The facials are pretty special, too – the lovely therapists Lindsey and Kay throw in a bit of massage here and there as a soothing bonus. The hotel is also part of The Times 2 for 1 offer, so if you’ve been collecting your passwords, you can use them wisely in Wales.
Our favourite bits 
We love the pair of 12-foot hand-carved Moroccan doors framing the restaurant, which overlooks a charming, crumbling-walled garden (where the hotel’s organic vegetables are grown) through floor-to-ceiling sliding glass. It’s a mini Manoir, with a chef plucked from Raymond’s retreat and home-grown ingredients to match. We’re also big fans of the bathrooms – stunning Jeremy Cole lights shine over quirky screen-printed photos of local landmarks on shower tiles. Other dreamy design features included seriously swish B&O sound and TV systems, plantation shutters, pebbled bathroom floors, lime-washed walls and exposed beams.
Mr & Mrs Smith say ‘When we passed a caravan site at the end of a narrow Welsh country lane, I could tell Mrs Smith was less than impressed to hear that we were nearly there. Cue dubious expression: ‘Are you sure someone would spend quite so much money creating a beautiful boutique hotel in the middle of nowhere?’ But I saw her eyes widen and a smile appear as we crunched into the enchanting gravel courtyard. The hotel’s warm general manager greeted us with hot chocolate and steaming hot flannels, even arranging for someone to park our car.
Hurst (meaning ‘dairy’) House was built in 1595. Next-door is the malt house (where they used to make beer), and the salt house… yes, you’ve guessed what that one was all about. Over the years, change has given Hurst House on the Marsh a certain charm – though the property sits unassumingly in the middle of 3,000 acres of windswept Carmarthenshire countryside. Minutes from the coast, it’s a stunning, rugged landscape; you can see how Thomas fell in love with this area – and drew inspiration from it to pen his many classics, including Under Milk Wood…’
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