Bluestone Resort Pembrokeshire - What you need to know before you go - Anglesey Photographer

Ah, Bluestone Pembs. When we lived in Cardiff, we used to spend almost every weekend in the Newgale area of beautiful Pembrokeshire, but we had never ever been to Bluestone! Loads of our friends and family go every single year, so we knew it was like a Welsh Center Parks, but we’d never thought of going ourselves. Fast forward to summer 2024, and somebody had forgotten to put his annual leave request in in time, so could he get a full week off over the summer? Absolutely not. He could get a maximum of 4 days in any one go, so we decided that a short break at Bluestone would fit the bill. We loved it so much that we went back in January 2025, this time with our extended family, and I’ll try and cram as much information from both trips into one blog without boring you all.

Bluestone Resort has several different areas which you’ll see me mentioning, and the lodges are spaced out nicely between these areas. The Village is an area which contains a play park, coffee shop, corner shop, toy shop, restaurants, the spa, and guest services office. The Hive is a massive indoor play area with soft play, a huge bouncy castle, slides, a cafe and bowling. The Serendome is best described as a huge covered outdoor area which holds the theatre, water play, sand play, a teddy bear workshop, several food and drinks stands, and the high ropes course. The Blue Lagoon is the swimming pool complex.

Before I start, it’s worth mentioning that both stays were paid for in full by us - these were not PR visits and I haven’t been compensated in any way for this blog. Also the photos have been taken from the Bluestone website (with credit of course!), because I was there on holiday, not working, so my big camera didn’t get a look in!

1.    How much does a trip to Bluestone cost and is it worth the money?

Put it this way - in early July 2024 (outside of school holidays), we paid for the smallest, most basic lodge which slept 4. In January 2025 (again outside of school holidays), we paid less money for the largest, most premium lodge, which slept 8. I’m not going to put the exact figures on here, because the latest trip was a gift for my parents so I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag! What I’m trying to say is that it’s a bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ question. In January, you can get a 2 bed ‘Caldey’ lodge for £180 for a 4 night break. But if you want the same lodge for 4 nights during the Easter holidays? That’ll cost you £1320. The 4 bed ‘Carningli’ lodge will cost you up to £2800 for a 4 night break in August. And now you’ll understand why we did both breaks during term time! As to whether it’s worth the money - for the price we paid for each break, we feel that we had excellent value for money.

2.    What time of year should we go to Bluestone?

This sort of leads on from the cost. As we’ve been in both summer and winter, I feel like I can compare the two pretty well. The main reason you pay more for summer than winter is the better weather, right? Well, it rained every day when we went in July. Not all day every day, but that light summer rain that comes in showers. I rained horrendously on the first day when we went in January, but after that it was pretty dry. The thing I love about Bluestone is that even if it does rain, there’s plenty to do. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that even if it rains all week, you can find enough things to do inside that you’ll still have a great week. If your kids are pretty outdoorsy and don’t mind putting on wellies and a rain coat, I’d seriously consider whether it’s worth paying extra for the weather of a Welsh ‘summer’.

3.  What are the lodges like at Bluestone?

Honestly, the first word that springs to mind is ‘clean’. If you’re a millennial like me, you’ll get the reference - ‘not just health department clean - Monica clean!’. Both lodges we stayed in were absolutely spotless when we arrived, which is a lovely change from some of the air bnbs and holiday cottages we’ve stayed in over the years - yuck. The housekeeping team at Bluestone do an amazing job, and it’s a nice to start your holiday to walk in to somewhere you actually want to stay for the next few nights.

The lodges are either Premium Lodges (Merlin’s Crest on the map) or Standard Lodges (every other area on the map). The original standard lodges at Bluestone have been there since 2008, so they are of course a bit more dated than the newer, premium lodges, which opened in 2023. It’s just little things that I noticed about the standard lodges - like not having a shower head that pulls out (nightmare if you’re trying to wash the children’s hair) and having a small fridge with freezer box instead of a full sized fridge freezer. But even if your budget only stretches to the most basic lodge (like ours did last July), then you won’t be disappointed. The premium lodge we stayed in was just beautiful - the nicest self-catering type accommodation we’ve ever stayed in. It was light and airy and really well laid out. Information about all lodge types can be found here - https://www.bluestonewales.com/accommodation - and there’s a floorplan for each lodge type too (as a Rightmove addict, I approve of this decision!). You can also pay an additional fee to choose exactly which number lodge you’d like to reserve, so if you specifically want a lodge that backs onto the woods, or one that overlooks the lake, remember to do this when you book. There are pros and cons to the lodges in each area of the resort. If your budget won’t stretch to the premium lodges, you’ll be getting a lodge that’s nestled in or near established woodland, meaning that you’d got a great chance of spotting wildlife such as bird, squirrels and badgers.

4. How much spending money do we need for Bluestone?

Given that Bluestone is a self-catering holiday, I think that this is an important question to answer, because you don’t want to get there only to discover there are hundreds of pounds worth of extras you need to be splurging on. Just brace yourselves for the “can I have a teddy / crafting kit / football / random plastic toy?” questions that will flow thick and fast. There are things for sale everywhere! There’s a toy shop in the Village, a build-a-bear type shop in the Serendome, toys for sale in the Hive, and yet more things for sale at the Blue Lagoon. Oh, and the whole resort is cashless, which in my opinion makes it easier to forget what you’re spending. But, because most things are booked and / or paid for in advance - accommodation, buggy, activities, meals out etc - you actually can stick to a budget if you need to. I can’t think of any ‘hidden extras’, which is always nice for a holiday.

5. How much does food cost at Bluestone?

So as I’ve just mentioned, Bluestone resort is a self-catering holiday, and the quality of the kitchens and the range of equipment in the lodges make it easy to be able to cook and prepare meals for your family. I also love that you can download a full list of the equipment and utensils in each lodge before you go - just scroll down to the bottom of the individual lodge’s web page.

There is a small co-op type shop in Bluestone Village which is handy for essentials (or if you’ve run out of wine…) and it’s actually not that expensive. You will need to bring your shopping with you though, because you can’t get any shopping delivered to the resort. A fact I found out after my 9 year old suggested just doing a Tesco shop and getting it sent to the car park next time we were there!

There are options to eat out if you don’t fancy cooking - the NRG lab (in the Hive) offers breakfast and lunch, Camp Smokey (an outdoor experience in the woods) caters for lunch, while The Farmhouse Grill (pub type food) and The Oak Tree (Italian food) offer evening meals. The prices of the meals are as you’d expect - higher than you’d pay on the high street for the same type of food. Off the top of my head, I think we paid around £20 per main, and between £5 and £8 per starter / dessert. It was nice to eat out as a treat and not have to cook, but not something I’d spend my money on every night! If you’re thinking of eating out, you do need to book your table in advance and pay a deposit for the booking which then gets taken off your final bill.

The other option is to choose from Bluestone’s takeaway menu, with your food being delivered directly to your lodge. We found the service when doing this amazing - hot food delivered exactly on time with updates provided from ordering to delivery.

6. What do we need to bring to Bluestone?

Apart from the obvious (food, clothes etc), the things that I’d suggest bringing with you for your break at Bluestone are dishwasher tablets, anti-bac spray, and handwash for the kitchen. Pretty much everything else is provided for you in your lodge. There’s a little ‘starter pack’ provided which has a bin bag, dishcloth, a couple of dishwasher tablets etc, but we found that we ended up adding to this. Towels are included, but I’d definitely pack spare ones for every one for the pool. Random, but handy to know - the heated towel rail in each bathroom is controlled with a switch, so you can use them to dry your swimming things each day even if the weather is rubbish. I know this is the kind of information you’re here for! Oh and bring £1 / a token for the lockers at the pool!

7. How much do the activities cost at Bluestone? Are there any free activities at Bluestone?

One thing I found frustrating when I was booking first time round was that the Bluestone website gives you descriptions of the activities available, but not how much each one costs. It’s not easy to work out if a break will be affordable or not if you don’t know how much everything costs! In general, the activities we looked at were priced between £15 and £35 per person. Archery was around £15, Skywalk Mini was around £15, Skywalk was around £30, Off Roading Rangers was around £25, and Adrenaline was around £15 for 2 turns. We also booked the bowling for one evening, which is charged per lane, not per person, and was £37 for 40 minutes. I didn’t actually book any time or treatments at the Spa, but I had a look at the prices and saw that the range was from £30 for the thermal suite to around £90 for a massage, with lots of options in between.

The good news is that there are also lots of activities included in the price you pay for your lodge. Sand and water play at the Serendome, indoor play areas at the Hive, and the play park in the Village are al free and great for younger children. There are also so many walking and cycling trails at the resort that you can pack a picnic and head out for a whole day immersed in nature. But possibly the biggest attraction that’s included in the price is the swimming pool - the Blue Lagoon. We would have been in there twice a day if E had her way. I’ve seen people commenting on instagram that it’s tired and needs refurbishing, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it might seem that way only in relation to the rest of the resort, which is beautiful. It’s lots of fun, with a lazy river, wave pool, and 4 slides - definitely a highlight of the break.

8. How much is it to hire a buggy at Bluestone and is it worth it? Do I need to hire a buggy at Bluestone?

Another thing I couldn’t seem to find an answer for before booking was this question! We’d seen that friends of ours had hired a buggy when they’d stayed and we thought it was a cute idea. We paid £125 for a buggy for our 4 night stay last July (2024). I’m pretty sure that the price to hire a buggy for a 3 night weekend stay or a 4 night weekday stay is the same. If you stay in one of the platinum lodges, you get either one or two buggies included in the price of your lodge.

Is it essential to hire a buggy? No. Is it handy to have? Yes. I think that whether you need one or not depends on lots of factors - budget, children’s ages, children’s personalities, where your lodge is, and which activities you think you’ll be doing during your break. The resort is nicely spaced out, but this also means that there’s a lot of ground to cover between one place and another. The lodges are dotted about between the Hive, Serendome and Blue Lagoon (top of the hill) and the Village (bottom of the hill). Because the resort is car free (apart from Blue Badge holders), if you don’t hire a buggy, you will be getting a lot of steps in. This is great if you’re an active family and the weather is dry, but not so great if it’s raining or your children don’t like scooting or cycling.

We were personally glad that we had buggies both times we stayed. For practical reasons as well as it just being a fun addition to the holiday. Each buggy has a name (some have been named with the help of Google Translate I’m sure, because as someone whose first language is Welsh, I’ve never heard some of those words before haha!), but my top tip is to take something to decorate your buggy with. Fabric bunting, fairy lights, garlands - anything that will make it stand out and easy to identify when it’s parked with tens of others outside the Blue Lagoon! I’d also suggest packing a shower squeegee and an extra towel to dry the buggy if it rains. And if you’re super organised and know it’s going to rain while you’re there - bring 2 cheap shower curtains with you for the sides so you don’t get wet while you’re driving round. I wish that had been my idea. I can’t take credit for it, but I can tell you from seeing someone else doing it that it works.

9. Is it easy to get to Bluestone?

Why oh why did we not visit when we lived in Cardiff?! It’s under 2 hours from Pontcanna, where we used to live. What I love about Bluestone is that not only is it under 2 hours from Cardiff, but it’s an 2 easy hours. M4 then A40 - done. Coming from Anglesey however…. oh my days. We came down the coast road via Aberystwyth. Very pretty, but good lord, if you get stuck behind anything you’re properly stuck. It’s bad. And this is coming from someone who classes the A470 as her most travelled route ever. If you’re not reading this from the South Wales area - don’t let the journey put you off. It’s worth it once you’re there, and hopefully the children will be so shattered by the journey home that they’ll sleep the whole way back.

10. What’s so special about Bluestone?

Apart from the clean accommodation, beautiful nature trails, eco-friendly initiatives, fun activities and the chance to spend quality time with your family, the one thing that sets Bluestone apart for me is the staff. In our experience, they will go above and beyond to help the guests have an amazing break. I don’t just mean the ones who are employed in guest services, I mean everyone. The ones who serve you coffee, the ones who show you how your buggy works, the ones who come and replace your plate when you’ve smashed it (oops). Everyone. I’d love to say a public thank you to Helen, who was so kind to my niece when she’d hurt her head, and remembered E from last summer. How she remembered her face when she must have seen thousands in the meantime is beyond me, but it made E’s day when she said “I’ve seen you here before!”. The staff are amazing, and I hope they’re told that one a regular basis!

I hope I’ve answered any questions that you might have about a trip to Bluestone National Park Resort, Pembrokeshire (or even convinced you to book!), but if I’ve missed anything out, feel free to let me know! I’ll try and answer any additional questions that come to me over on Facebook or Instagram.

Clare x

About Me

Hi, I’m Clare, an award winning Anglesey baby photographer and family photographer who loves working with natural light. I cover Anglesey and North Wales for maternity, newborn, child and family photoshoots. Get in touch if you’d like to book your family’s Anglesey photoshoot.