Sitting on something between a hilltop and a clifftop, this is a place with one of the most dramatic views in Wales, if not the whole of Britain. Contemporary, mostly timbered luxury lodges face the Taf Estuary which if you look at one time of day is an inland sea, at another is a drift of sandbanks with streams running through it. The tides are mesmerising – as is the view down the hill/cliff to the Dylan Thomas Boathouse, the tiny cottage where the author of Under Milk Wood lived and wrote (and the wood itself is a short coastal stroll away).
The resort
One of the varied lodge styles, with veranda and rooftop sundeck
A place that continues to grow yet doesn’t seem to. It’s been four years since everything clicked for the former caravan site in this pretty Carmarthenshire spot, lodges in the greensward, others perched on the cliffside. Since then, though, another major development occurred in 2024 with work starting on another 30 or so lodges at the end of the summer season.
The accommodation
The stylish lounge with sea view
The lodges, in five styles, are contemporary rustic… a grey-brown woody feel with decking outside the glass wall of the living area, and often a shaded area for outdoor dining. Most have hot tubs, with views through the glass fencing and some even have a second terrace on the roof, as well as a barbecue. Lodges are two or three bedroom with two bathrooms and all mod cons… cooker, dishwasher, big TV with plenty of stations and even free resort wifi. Many of the newer properties – all individually owned but with matching interior design and furniture which works for the rental market – are higher on the hill but still have views across their neighbours. Places that you could happily live in, and none more than a 10-minute walk to the little supermarket in Laugharne.
View across veranda and hot tub
The facilities
The swimming pool is a window on the world
Simple yet sensational. This isn’t a good-time holiday resort, it’s something subtler and more satisfying. Milk Wood Spa has you relaxing the moment you’re in the door. The infinity swimming pool is indoors but about as outdoors as you can get… lofty ceiling and equally lofty glass walls with the view across the estuary. Décor is mostly slate, with a touch of polished timber, a look that extends to the sauna and steam room, both glass-fronted and both with views across the pool. Through a glass door is a big, slate-lined whirlpool which is in a room with a view but without a glass wall. Needless to say the gym has panoramic views too.
The open-air hot pool is a dramatic setting
The spa uses Ishga organic products made from Hebridean seaweed and features sea-inspired treatments such as Ishga Express Hebridean Sea Salt & Oil Scrub and the Algae Full Body Wrap, as well as massages. The Studio, a self-contained building nearby, features yoga sessions, manicures, pedicures and facials.
On the hill, near a small neolithic mound, is a children’s play area (with a marquee during school holidays) and tennis courts. A farm food shop is on its way.
Eating and drinking
Milk Wood House, a place with sensational views from bar, restaurant and swimming pool
Milk Wood House is the social hub. Milk Wood Bar & Kitchen is both a place to pop in for a drink or for a meal. Both, on the first floor (reception and spa are below), have panoramic estuary views through the glass walls – and there’s a large terrace too, bringing the views even closer. The food from a changing menu has a contemporary world view mixed with Brit classics. Starters include chorizo and black pudding Scotch egg with roasted red pepper ketchup. Mains feature seafood rigatoni, the clams, mussels, cod and prawns a nod to local fishing tradition. There’s also charred minted lamb rump, a selection of steaks and pizza from the wood-fired oven. Milk Wood House is open through the day for coffee and lunch, while a coffee bar opens on the grassy area by the tennis courts and children’s play area.
There’s a cosy tearoom at the Dylan Thomas Boathouse, down the little path to the water’s edge, while Browns, several minutes’ walk from the resort gate, is a pub where Thomas used to pop in for a swift one or more, and which is itself now a boutique hotel. A couple of minutes’ walk outside the gate is Brown’s Hotel, a historic spot where Dylan Thomas liked to drink.
Dylan’s echoes
Dylan Boathouse on the path down from the resort
Laugharne is a pretty town, and packed with Dylan Thomas history. A grassy sward runs down to the sea in a little bay just along from the coastal path and there are steps up to the resort. Laugharne Castle is here, two medieval towers amidst ornamental gardens, and where Thomas wrote Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog in the summerhouse. Outside the castle wall is Island House, a 16th-century stone mansion amid massive renovations to create a boutique hotel, bar and restaurant.
Laugharne’s waterfront castle
The waterfront trail below Dylan Coastal Resort is the 870-mile Wales Coast Path which, to the left, passes through Milk Wood itself, a magical springtime world of snowdrops and wild garlic. On the path, directly below the resort, is the Dylan Thomas Boathouse, the house where he lived and worked from 1949 to 1953. An inland path from the resort’s front gate reaches the cemetery where a painted wooden cross stands at Dylan Thomas’s grave.
Farther afield
Tenby, from the cliffs above North Beach
Pendine Sands, a seven-mile stretch where, in the 1920s, Malcolm Campbell set two Bluebird land speed records, hitting 206mph. Here the futuristic Museum of Land Speed, opened summer 2023, tells the tale (and has Bluebird’s tail) as well as exhibitions on secret weapons testing here and much more.
A little farther is the little beach town of Amroth and just inland Colby Woodland Garden, a National Trust delight with wooded valley walks and a rich walled garden.
Several miles along is the resort town of Saundersfoot, then the bigger town of Tenby with its beaches both big and little, clifftop walks and boat trips to beautifully unspoilt Caldey Island.
How much?
Four nights in a two-bedroom lodge, sleeping four, starts at £419 in January (luxurylodges.com)
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