Review: Grove of Narberth, Pembrokeshire – Independent Hotel of the Year 2024

This is our review of Grove of Narberth, a very well regarded property which won ‘Independent Hotel of the Year’ at the 2024 Independent Hotel Show in London.

Luckily for us (and for you), we now have a good reason to feature hotels like the Grove. It is part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World – indeed, it won SLH Hotel of the Year in 2023 – which means you can earn and redeem Hilton Honors points here. It is certainly a pleasant change to redeeming for a Hampton ….

The Grove provided us with a two-night stay and a dinner at Fernery. Travel costs and my second dinner were borne by HfP.

The hotel website is here if you want to find out more. You can also book via Hilton here to earn Hilton Honors points and receive some elite status benefits.

Getting to the Grove

My unofficial series of country house hotel reviews for HfP has taken me to the Scottish Borders (Hyatt’s SCHLOSS Roxburghe, reviewed here), the Yorkshire Dales (Swinton Park Hotel, reviewed here) and Dartmoor (Bovey Castle, reviewed here) amongst other places. I had never made it to Wales – at all, not just for a hotel review – and I was happy when this opportunity came up.

As always I was determined to travel by public transport. This proved to be a tad too ambitious for this corner of the country and I strongly recommend driving.

I arrived by Great Western into Cardiff and changed to a small Transport for Wales train to Narberth. Narberth’s train station is outside the town and a good 20 minutes away on foot. I tried to call local taxis but either they didn’t take the call or were already busy with other trips, so pre-book if you are coming by rail.

I walked into Narberth which is a vibrant town with pretty shops and cafes. From Narberth to the Grove was another 45 minutes on foot, mostly along a single track road rolling through the countryside. On the bright side it was a crisp sunny day and my slow approach to the hotel meant I could fully appreciate its remote and beautiful setting.

The top picture above is the view coming down the long drive from the single track road to the hotel. As a first impression you can’t beat it. The house looks grand with its white walls and large windows surrounded by landscaped gardens.

The Grove has a long history dating back to the 15th century and was mentioned as a coach stopping point as early as the 17th century. In the late 19th century it was remodelled and neo-gothic arts and crafts features added. The current owners bought the Grove in 2007 as a run-down and dilapidated estate which had been empty for several years. Step by step they restored this beautiful property and opened it as a country house hotel.

This is not a spa hotel, although some in-room treatments are available, and there is no pool. The focus is entirely on its beautiful position within the rolling hills of Pembrokeshire, the comfortable and unique rooms and the food. I was exited to explore all of this.

Here is another view of the exterior showing the main entrance with the porch. In front is a large garden terrace with wooden tables and chairs placed between Japanese cherry trees. When in bloom these will be stunning.

A big wooden door opens into a spacious entrance hall with fresh spring flowers on the table.

I was welcomed by the very friendly reception team where we completed formalities. They were very impressed when I said that I had walked with my small suitcase, although they made it very clear that they would have arranged a lift if I had asked!

On the left is a large shelf with bits and pieces available to buy – pottery, cosmetics, books, maps etc.

The public rooms

All public rooms (except The Gallery upstairs) are on the ground floor off the entrance hall. This is the main lounge and the largest space:

The furnishings and decorations are a mix of old and new with many references to Wales. The interior design is very tasteful throughout with lots of Welsh character in the form of wall textiles, artifacts and furniture. Beautiful dried flower arrangements can be found across the entire hotel with plenty of decorative rugs.

This was my favourite seat to have a cup of tea. The cavity in the coffee table contains antique wool spindles:

This is the Blue Lounge with a darker ambience achieved with wood paneling and lots of fabric. A fire was on all day (it was early March) making it very snug:

The Blue Lounge has two seating areas and connects to the reception:

The bar is at the heart of the hotel. One of the oldest parts of the property, it has a distinct country pub feel. Guests gathered here for pre-dinner drinks and during the day passing walkers and guests had drinks and snacks.

The lounge and bar menu offers small plates such as fish cake, pickled cucumber and herb mayonnaise at £15. Alcoholic drinks include liquor coffees, a sparkling wine from the nearby Velfrey vineyard and Welsh gin and tonic.

My room at the Grove

The hotel has 25 rooms of which 12 are suites, spread across the hotel and a number of cottages. I was given a Cottage Garden Suite named Sorrel which was two minutes walk from the main house.

Coming in to a slim corridor you have the living room to the left and the bedroom to the right. It is a very comfortable room with a sofa (not pictured) on one end and a table with two chairs. As you can see below I got the wood burner going which was lovely in the evening.

This room had a complimentary minibar with a coffee machine, tea facilities, soft drinks, fresh milk, Wrexham Lager, a small bottle of red wine and a homemade fruit bar. The hotel has its own spring boreholes and therefore has its own fresh drinking water.

The room was decorated with old garden tools – here wooden rakes are hanging from the wall. On the table were fresh spring flowers.

The bathroom had a very generous bathtub and double sinks.

Toiletries are from The Goodwash Company. Created in Wales this is an ethical lifestyle brand with 50% of profits going to charity. I liked it so much that I bought a bottle of hand-cream at reception before leaving.

In line with the hotel’s sustainability efforts toilet and tissue papers are unbleached. This is something you rarely see at other hotels which claim they are environmentally aware.

The bedroom was very cosy. With no road or air traffic – a substantial change to London – time seemed to stand still as I relaxed in my little cottage.

The turndown service left a leaflet each night with the weather forecast and tips on what to visit or do the next day. One night I received a small bag with ‘Musselburgh’ leek seeds to grow at home.

What was outstanding – and unexpected – was the large south-facing private garden in the back of the cottage. I’ve no idea if the hotel would allow it but it would be great to pitch a tent here for the kids to sleep in!

Note the solar panels on the roof, installed as part of the Grove’s renewable energy efforts.

Other rooms at the Grove

I had a chance to see other room types, both in and out of the main house. Every room has its own style so it is hard to generalise.

Derwen

Derwen is in the main house and categorised ‘Deluxe’, the second highest rank. This room has a four poster bed, a warm atmosphere and lovely views.

Derwen has a small desk/vanity and a sofa with a coffee table.

The bathroom had one sink and bathtub with the shower and toilet separate.

Elderflower

Elderflower is a Cottage Junior Suite located directly next to the main house, so a shorter walk than I had. The bedroom is in the eaves of the cottage and looks great in my opinion.

The bathroom was split into two off a small corridor – one bathroom (pictured here) also had a separate shower and toilet whilst on the other side was just the bathtub directly under the window.

Dining at the Grove

The Grove has two dining options – the more informal Artisan Rooms and the Fernery for fine dining.

Artisan Rooms has two areas. The Willow Room, below, is named after the willow weaving on the wall.

The restaurant offers lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. If you are going walking it can pack you a rucksack-sized picnic for £30 per person or a gourmet picnic hamper for £50.

Below is the terrace room. Both have a more contemporary feel than the rest of the hotel albeit with traditional elements.

Large glass doors open to an inner courtyard which is paved and planted with apple trees. Being south facing this must be a lovely spot in the summer.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in Artisan Rooms and is a la carte only. Starting with juice and coffee I had fresh fruit salad with mint to begin.

I followed this with Grove smoked salmon, avocado and scrambled egg. It was delicious.

Next morning I had charcuterie with a wedge of Caws Preseli, a Welsh mould-ripened cheese as the starter followed by french toast with vanilla & lime strawberries, creme fraiche and pecans. This was equally good.

Dinner at Artisan Rooms

I started off my dinner with Tilly’s alcohol free tipple, a cucumber syrup, elderflower, lime and Mediterranean tonic cocktail. The menu has a lot going on, including interesting dishes such as Welsh onion soup as a starter and a black garlic nut roast with artichoke as a main.

For my starter I chose pork terrine, remoulade and garden chutney (£16).

I love mussels and take them whenever there is an opportunity. These, served in garlic, cider and parsley, were large and fresh – just as I prefer them. The accompanying triple cooked fries were lovely too, albeit you should expect this for £32.

My dessert was a mille feuille, rhubarb and yoghurt (£14) – yummy.

Fernery restaurant at the Grove

Fernery is the fine dining restaurant at the Grove. It is open from Wednesday to Saturday so you may want to time your visit to experience it.

The restaurant is beautifully decorated with dried ferns glued to the walls and fern plants in pots and vases.

The space is quite large when fully open but can be sectioned via several curtains rails. Depending on the number of booked tables the restaurant is always the ‘right’ size.

Guests can choose from a five course (£120) or seven course (£145) tasting menu. The service is smooth and knowledgeable, especially the very engaging sommelier. The courses come with optional wine pairings at an £75 and £95 respectively. What was surprising is that the restaurant offers non-alcoholic pairings too. This makes sense as guests from outside will come by car.

Each table shows a little map with the source of local ingredients which I thought was a great idea.

I was invited to try the five course menu. Before the first dish was served I received three small canapes.

I expected the black flower below to be dry pastry and was surprised when it had an utterly delicious filling. It was actually a local seaweed cracker with taramasalata, wasabi gel and dill pollen.

My dishes had interesting names like Blodyn Gwyn (white flower) or Atlantic Edge. As always with a tasting menu, some courses were more successful (to me) than others.

One course was a small lobster roll which was divine. Another dish comprised turbot wrapped in nori seaweed – it looked great sitting on foraged sea herbs in a moussy souce but I found the flavour too intense.

My favourite dish was Dewi’s James’s Lamb as shown below, with strong flavours of mint and cardamom gel, lime pickle, Bombay kohlrabi and wild garlic leaves, dressed with the lamb fat sauce. The lamb was excellent.

The dessert was called Walled Garden and is a composition of preserved fig leaf and apple. This was a success too.

Conclusion

I had a wonderful stay at Grove of Narberth. The stunning location, beautifully curated rooms and comfortable beds really make you feel at home. The food is of very high quality, although the tasting menu had its share of hits and misses.

There is a lot to do in the surrounding area but the remote location means you need a car to make the most of it.

On one day, being car-less, I took a taxi to Manorbier on the south coast (£50) with a pick-up in Tenby arranged for the late afternoon. Manorbier is a pretty village with a ruined castle, a museum and a surf school. The beach is amazing and I walked part of the Welsh Coast Path towards Tenby. It was obvious after half an hour or so that I was unprepared for the terrain and the high winds so I turned around and caught a bus! Tenby is a picturesque coastal town with colourful houses, shops and cafes and a stunning beach. I had the most gorgeous walk here and even managed some retail therapy.

How to book

Rooms at the Grove start at around £330 per night midweek or £350 at weekends.

Small Luxury Hotels are often surprisingly good value for Hilton Honors points redemptions. Remember that American Express Membership Rewards points convert at 1:2 into Hilton Honors points. You should also see if there is a bonus on buying Hilton Honors points and do the maths to see if this is cheaper than a cash booking.

Here is an example for June where you are getting 0.76p per Hilton point. This is great value compared to our usual valuation of 0.33p per point:

For cash stays, as well as booking via the Grove’s own website, you should take a look at pricing via Small Luxury Hotels and via the Hilton website here.

If you have Hilton Honors elite status then you get extra benefits at participating Small Luxury Hotels:

• Member (no Hilton status): member discount, complimentary standard Wi-Fi, complimentary late checkout, bottled water, no resort fees on reward stays

• Silver: 20% elite tier bonus, 5th standard reward night free, all ‘Member’ benefits 

• Gold: 80% elite tier bonus, complimentary breakfast for two, space-available upgrades, 5th standard reward night free, all ‘Member’ benefits 

• Diamond: 100% elite tier bonus, complimentary breakfast for two, space-available upgrades, 5th standard reward night free, all ‘Member’ benefits

There is no points credit for food and drink spend – only on your room rate.

Hilton pricing is usually the same as booking via SLH itself but do check. Basically you need to look at the Hilton rate, the Small Luxury Hotels rate and the direct booking rate. You can adjust for any Hilton status benefits and your value of the Hilton points you’d receive if booked that way.

Thanks to Hanna at PC and Karen and her team at the Grove for arranging my stay.

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