BARRY LEIGHTON discovers two distinctly different hotels in Wales

CARDIFF boasts some fine thoroughfares – not least the Victorian arcades in the city centre that are crammed with independent, quirky shops of a commendably browse-worthy nature. But few, if any, can surely match Cathedral Road for both the vibe and buzz of its 21st Century coffee shop culture and the sheer quality of the splendid, spacious houses erected there during the late 19th Century.

Until around 160 years ago this was a muddy rural lane alongside the River Taff with toll-gate access to the heart of the Welsh capital.

Its owner, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, changed all of that when he opened-up a two-square mile swathe of countryside for development... but only on condition that every new residence should be built to exacting architectural standards.

The result is a grand and elegant street in the Pontcanna area of Cardiff, just around the corner and across the bridge from the city centre.

Among its more recent arrivals is a boutique hotel-cum-restaurant that is so proud of its location that it decided to call itself simply Cathedral 73 – that being the number, of course, of the Victorian town house which it occupies.

Upon arriving at the hotel car park – yes, it has one of those – I manage to manoeuvre my conveyance next to a rather spiffing yellow Rolls Royce (not the one from the eponymous 1964 Ingrid Bergman/Rex Harrison film, but of similar lineage).

“Must have some well-heeled guests here today,” was our reaction.

But no, it’s the hotel Roller which can be hired by Cathedral 73 residents who fancy swanning around Cardiff and its environs in style (chauffeur-driven, naturally).

Guests can take a half day tour if they wish – posh picnic hamper optional – or enjoy a swish 30-minute drive, with a few detours, to a restaurant.

The wow factor is something Cathedral 73 lacks absolutely none of. It has been lavishly furnished with some truly astounding pieces of modern art – so much so that it took about 20 minutes to walk to our third storey room. We were continually stopping to gawp at the paintings, ornaments and sculptures.

The owners have striven, with considerable success, to combine class with comfort, mixing the chic with the cosy.

“Expect the highest levels of service – but we don’t do stuffiness,” is the management’s ethos.

As a pianist tinkled away on a shiny grand during dinner we certainly felt relaxed as we cheerfully sank into Cathedral 73’s laid back ambience.

On our doorstep, of course – and within a ten-minute walk or so – is one of Britain’s finest cities.

Cardiff Castle – whose vast edifice sits between Cathedral Street and the city centre – is a 12th Century motte and bailey job expensively revived with huge splashes of fashionably Gothic splendour in the 19th Century.

Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, the rhino-like Judoon and, most sinister of all, the merciless Weeping Angels await visitors to the Dr Who Experience in the regenerated Cardiff Bay.

“Everything that ever hated me… here they come,” gasps the Doctor as visitors huddle nervously into the Tardis.

The effects are dazzling, the drama delicious.

An impressive collection of Impressionist art – much of it amassed by wealthy sisters Gwendoline and Margaret Davies – can be admired at the National Museum, including works by Renoir, Manet, Monet, Cézanne and Van Gogh.

Don’t miss Red Lady of Paviland, who resides there too. At 29,000 years, hers’ are the oldest human remains found in the UK.

Looking good on it, girl!

  • Both properties visited by Barry and Pauline Leighton are members of the Great Little Places collection of hotels.

    For a free copy of the 2015 brochure visit www.little-places.co.uk or call 01570 470 785.

    Lolfa Cynin at St. Clears has double rooms from £78.25 (B&B). Guests have free use of the pool, spa and gym.

    Call 0808 198 9480 (www.lolfacynin.co.uk).

  • Cathedral 73 in central Cardiff has double rooms from £150 per night (B&B).

    Call 0808 198 9471 (www.cathedral73.com).

    Hire it out for your hen night...

    A FUNNY thing happened on the way to Lolfa Cynin the other day – something more than 40 years of motoring hadn’t thrown up before.

    Bowling along a puddle-strewn country road came to an abrupt halt at a level crossing and was duly instructed, via a road sign, to open the gates if the light was green.

    It was, so I did. Having driven across the track, I was then informed in so many words that I’d better push the things shut or a £1,000 fine would be making its way back to Swindon with my name all over it.

    Now that’s what I call being way out in the sticks… which is a key reason why families and weekend parties make for Lolfa Cynin in the first place.

    Lolfa Cynin – yes, it’s in Wales – is a beautifully renovated coach house-cum-farmyard set in a lush Carmarthenshire valley a couple of miles from the charming town of St Clears.

    It once formed part of a 16th Century manorial estate before it was parceled up and sold off in the 1920s.

    A few years ago the corner now occupied by the Lolfa Cynin guest house had deteriorated into a crumbling, rundown and weed-choked collection of agricultural structures, with blackened walls and broken windows.

    Just ripe, you’d have thought, for the ball and chain. Fortunately, some visionary souls took up its cause and it has since risen from the mire in spectacular, award-winning fashion.

    There is a photo album at Lolfa Cynin charting its dramatic transformation, with some startling “before and after” shots.

    Sitting in its spacious, open plan kitchen while tucking into a generous traditional Welsh breakfast, I could also make out some of the features of the original estate coach house.

    With understandable pride co-owner Elizabeth Davies cheerfully chatted about the structure’s recreation into a comfy, four-star ‘away-from-it-all’ bed and breakfast.

    The eight-room establishment – which can take up to five people per room – attracts family groups with small children, she said, as well as girls on weekend hen nights who bring their own booze and (surprise, surprise) tend to be pretty well behaved.

    Walking in the surrounding hills, rather than clubbing in the big cities, is clearly the attraction. “Sometimes we’ve had groups of up to 24 enjoying sole occupancy here,” she said.

    At one stage Elizabeth disappeared for a couple of minutes before returning with a piece of wood found in the roof during the renovation that was signed by a previous worker, apprentice carpenter William Jenkins, on April 26, 1838 – the year of Queen Victoria’s Coronation.

    “Frame it!” was my response!

    Adjoining Lolfa Cynin – where afternoon tea has become a daily tradition – is Llety Cynin, a newly-built stone leisure club complete with spa and swimming pools, fitness suite and sauna, that seamlessly merges with its parent building.

    Two or three minutes away by car, St Clears has a nice feel with couple of decent pubs, an Indian restaurant of some local repute… and a remarkable tribute to a remarkable incident.

    A fine piece of public art depicts three men dressed as women. No, not a monument to cross dressing or transgender excess but a memorial to the Rebecca Riots when – from 1839 to 1843 – hard-pressed agricultural workers protested against unfair taxes.

    They wore their wives’ glad-rags so they wouldn’t be recognised when they took their grievances out against the hated toll-gates, the tangible representation of high taxes.

    Courageous acts prompted by the repression of the working man… even if they were carried out in drag.