Rare Hideaways 2021 Rare Hideaways The Rare Hideaways Guide Part of the Welsh Rarebits Collection Take me away Take 2021 Tel +44 (0) 1570 470785 Email [email protected] A unique collection of cosy cottages, romantic Website rarehideaways.co.uk bolt holes and exclusive private rentals. THE RARE HIDEAWAYS Gift Vouchers Give an extra special Rare GIFT. From Cosy Cottages to Romantic Boltholes and Exclusive Private Rentals, Rare Hideaways Members are all different, but they offer the same thing – genuine, Welsh hospitality. 02 The Rare Hideaways Guide 2021 This year, treat a loved one, a colleague or a group of friends with a stay to remember at one of our unique Hideaways by giving them a Rare Hideaways Gift Voucher. Choose from our collection of hand-picked and quality checked Cosy Cot- tages, Romantic Boltholes and Exclusive Private Rentals. Spoil that special someone. Gift Vouchers / Downloadable vouchers from £25 Any value £25 – £500 or more For more information rarehideaways.co.uk Email [email protected] Tel + 44 (0)1570 470785 E-vouchers available for last minute presents. CROESO WELCOME Welcome to Rare Hideaways, a new venture with a long track record. If you know the luxury Welsh hotels scene then you’ll probably be familiar with Welsh Rarebits, a scheme founded over 35 years ago. Synonymous with quality, hospitality and value for money, its members include many of the top hotels in Wales. Rarebits was later adapted to a sister scheme, Great Little Places, a collection of smaller hotels, inns and guest houses which again has been most successful. We’ve now taken the Rarebits concept and How things have changed! We first applied it to self-catering, still focusing on noticed improvements in self-catering those essential virtues – quality, comfort, at the beginning of this century, but style, character, welcome and value – that have been gratified and surprised to are the cornerstones of the hotel collection. discover that this upward trend has And, as with Rarebits, membership of accelerated in the last five years. Rare Hideaways is by invitation only. Wales now has some of the most luxurious Over the last few years we’ve been busy and stylish self-catering properties on travelling the length and breadth of Wales the planet. And we’re also pleased to putting together this new collection, visiting report that the ‘people factor’ – that each one personally. It’s a varied bunch all-important element of hospitality (as all the most interesting collections that plays such a part in Welsh Rarebits should be) that includes converted continuing success – is also present in windmills, barns, country cottages Rare Hideaways, with owners going that and manor houses – but all sharing extra mile to look after their guests. those attributes mentioned earlier. It’s self-catering that caters for all tastes. We were asked several years ago why Included in this collection are historic we didn’t include upmarket self-catering mansions and tasteful barn conversions. properties in the Rarebits family. The Family gatherings and reunions have taken answer then was that they weren’t good on a whole new meaning and several of enough. Historically, it was the norm to our properties of character are booked out furnish the house or cottage you wanted for weekends months in advance. A chef to let with the dining suite you’d decided and catering staff can even be brought to replace from your own home, or in if you’re planning a special event. use a lumpy family heirloom bed. We’ve been amazed by the properties Then there was the fact that self-catering we’ve come across in the last few was all so impersonal, with little in years. We hope you enjoy discovering the way of welcome or hospitality – them as much as we did. you’d sometimes be asked to pick up the key at the local post office. Go on, take a look. 04 The Rare Hideaways Guide 2021 CONTENTS 04 Welcome 06 Bookings and Enquiries 07 Rare Rewards 08 A Tribute to Emyr Griffith 10 North Properties 20 Staycation 22 Mid Properties 36 The Wales Way 38 South Properties 52 Recipes 56 Accommodation Features 57 Wales Map BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES Book your next stay online at rarehideawys.co.uk Enquire directly with The Rare Hideaways on 08001032660 / [email protected] Contact properties directly, see listings from page 10. STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST NEWS, OFFERS, COMPETITIONS AND LAST-MINUTE AVAILABILITY. @rarebits WelshRarebits welshrarebitshotels welshrarebits SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER PAGE ICONS On each member’s page there are icons giving you a guideline as to some of the features available. Electric Car Charging Swimming Pool WiFi Hot Tub/Sauna Family Friendly* Private Chef Available** Dogs Welcome Real Fire *Families – restrictions may apply. There may be an age Please check directly with the property at the time of booking. limit below which children cannot be accommodated. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in this publication, **Private Chef Available (on request). The Rare Hideaways Guide can accept no liability whatsoever for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, or for any matter in any way connected with or arising out of the publication of the information. RARE REWARDS JOIN OUR CLUB We value your loyalty and would be delighted if we could offer you our Rare Rewards and other brand benefits. You can earn rewards through collecting points by booking your accommodation directly with us, receive regular offers and discounts, exclusive competitions and monthly prize draws, sale previews and upgrade membership tiers through collecting points when booking with us. Go straight to the top with our Platinum Membership and receive all of our standard benefits plus exclusive rewards throughout the year, loyalty card, birthday gift and free room upgrades*. You will also be able to load your gift voucher credit onto your card with unlimited expiry. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN JOIN OUR CLUB: Go to www.rarehideaways.co.uk/rare-rewards and sign up by completing our online form. Sign up *Subject to availability, T&Cs apply. Part of The Welsh Rarebits Collection 07 A Tribute to Emyr Griffith REMEMBERING ‘EM GRIFF’, FOUNDER OF WELSH RAREBITS 08 The Rare Hideaways Guide 2021 rarehideaways.co.uk It’s probable that many readers of this tribute won’t know much about Emyr Griffith. In the flesh, he was anything but an anonymous figure. If you’d ever met him, you’d know all about it – and the man. Emyr invented Welsh Rarebits. we say a watchful eye as The Welsh Rarebits ‘invented’ since there was nothing quite like Collection spread its wings, still travelling it in the mid-1980s. Emyr was passionate to his favourite spots, still the same old about Wales and passionate about people. irrepressible Em. When he walked into a room he lit a blue touch paper; or, perhaps a better metaphor, If you travelled with him it was always an he was a firework that entertained adventure. And he was always late, since and dazzled. even the supposedly briefest of exchanges with petrol pump attendants, shopkeepers, Emyr’s vision saw beyond the lacklustre bar staff, farmers, postmen and ladies who hotel and hospitality scene of the time. lunched took ten times longer than was He knew there were places out there that strictly necessary. That was the fun of it provided quality, commitment to excellence all, and you ended up with a deeper, more and that all-important ‘croeso’, or welcome. meaningful picture of Wales and what it So he invented Welsh Rarebits which was, was to be Welsh. when you come to think of it, an extension of himself. His spirit is spread throughout Wales. Next time you’re in one of his favourite Over the years, he travelled countless miles places – St Brides Spa Hotel, or the golf the length and breadth of Wales along with links opposite the Trefeddian at Aberdyfi, Roger Thomas, our erstwhile consultant or Portmeirion, or the bar in the Bear Editor, researching new properties, arguing Hotel – you may sense the vestiges of about who knew the best short cuts, getting his presence. He’d invariably be smiling. lost up country lanes, meeting farmers in And – Em being Em – he’d invariably pubs, drinking red wine and even, on one be putting a smile on your face too. occasion, sharing a bed (don’t ask) Morecambe and Wise-style. We miss him. He charmed and cajoled in the nicest possible way. Unlike the slick salesman, he totally believed – 110 per cent – in what he was doing. It was his mission in life. People warmed to his enthusiasm and energy, and within a decade Welsh Rarebits had become EMYR synonymous from London to Los Angeles, Melbourne to Manchester, with quality. GRIFFITH By 2010, Emyr had decided he wanted 1937—2021 to spend more me-time, so passed the Rarebits reins on to two hoteliers – Chris Hutton and Mike Morgan – who were well equipped to take over and carry on the good work, both being long-standing Rarebits members themselves. He stayed on as consultant for a few years, keeping Part of The Welsh Rarebits Collection 09 NORTH Mount Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa in Welsh – rears its head above all else. The highest summit in Wales and England gives its name to the Snowdonia National Park. But this big, 845 Snowdonia amongst its sheltered valleys, oakwoods, scenic lakes and sandy coastline. So white-knuckle climbers and laid-back country walkers 2000 of routes and paths. The National Park is by no means the north’s only attraction. There are also three protected ‘Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ — the coastlines fringing the Isle of Anglesey and Llŷn Peninsula, and grassy, rolling hills along the borderland Clwydian Range and Dee Valley.