Welsh hotel rated one of best by prestigious guide
ACLIFFTOP hotel built around a once-working windmill has been named one of this year’s “discoveries” in the 2019 Good Hotel Guide.
Picked for their unique, interesting designs, quirky decor, excellent service and attention to detail, Pembrokeshire’s Twr y Felin is one of just 10 UK hotels chosen for the accolade – and the only one from Wales.
The news comes following the announcement that Restaurant James Sommerin in Penarth had won a coveted Cesar Award in the same edition of the guide for its sea views, contemporary design and Michelin-starred cooking.
Wales’ first contemporary art hotel thanks to the 100-plus pieces of specially-commissioned paintings hanging on its walls, Twr y Felin in St Davids was also selected for the panoramic views it commands across the nearby peninsula, while both dinner and breakfast were described as “excellent”.
Work on the building’s current transformation first began in 2013 after internationally-respected architect Keith Griffith decided to buy it.
He put his name on the dotted line back in 2009 as he wanted to add to his portfolio of historic hotels in the area.
The venue, which features 21 ensuite rooms and two suites, joins its sister properties, Roch Castle and Penrhiw Hotel, as a luxury accommodation provider in the heart of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Griffith’s subsequent £7m development included the restoration of the original windmill tower – first built in 1806 by George Llewellyn of Foxhole Cottage, Ty Gwyn.
Originally known as Felin Wynt, the Welsh for windmill, it eventually stopped grinding corn in 1904, when the sails were dismantled.
Then, in 1907, the son of its owner converted the tower and erected new buildings alongside to create a new hotel called Twr y Felin, the Welsh for ‘mill tower’.
The site was used as a temperance hotel during the Second World War and for a further four decades until it was sold in 1986.
For the next 23 years the property was converted and run as an ecolodge and outdoor pursuits centre, becoming an important haven for visiting surfers.
Rooms at Twr y Felin start at £200.
HANG Fire Southern Kitchen has been crowned best restaurant at the 2018 Observer Food Monthly Awards.
The much-loved barbecue eaterie was presented with the prestigious award at a ceremony in London last night.
The restaurant was opened in Barry in 2016 by Sam Evans and Shauna Guinn, who started winning over Cardiff with their brisket and ribs at a pop-up at the The Canadian pub in Splott, in 2013.
Since then they have won an award at the BBC Street Food Awards, released a cookbook and appeared in their own BBC TV show.
After quitting their jobs in London, the pair travelled to the US in 2012 on a quest to find out everything about barbecue food, and attended masterclasses by competition-winning chefs.
Their adventures saw them help cook for a rodeo in Houston (smoking 50 briskets, 300 chickens, and 500 racks of spare rib), help an old mountain man repair his even older drum smoker deep in the Appalachians, and being entrusted with spice rub secrets that they have to “take to the grave”.
After their experiences, they aimed to recreate authentic southern-style barbecue and southern cooking using authentic British produce.
They say they serve the “finest meat” they can get their hands on and use free-range pork from local farms.
Items on the menu include 21-hour-smoked pulled pork, 12-hour-smoked brisket, eight-hour-smoked pork belly and nine-hour-smoked pork ribs.
The Observer Food Monthly Awards, now in their 15th year, celebrate the best in food and drink, voted for by readers and a panel of judges. Observer columnist Jay Rayner and food writer Nigella Lawson co-hosted this year’s celebrations.
In the reader-voted categories, Best Food Personality was won by campaigner and budget cooking expert Jack Monroe, while Best New Cookbook was given to Anna Jones for The Modern Cook’s Year, which features more than 250 vegetarian recipes.
The judge-voted categories saw food writer and cook Simon Hopkinson win the coveted Lifetime Achievement award. Cornerstone, a new restaurant in Hackney by chef Tom Brown who has won praise in BBC Two’s competition Great British Menu, was awarded best newcomer in food and drink.