For families wanting to explore West Wales with ease, the brand new family-friendly Tŷ hotel Milford Waterfront offers everything you need for that perfect weekend break.
This is our review of the Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront.
Having stayed at the Celtic Manor Resort several times, we were excited to stay at the latest hotel in their collection located in West Wales.
We hadn’t heard of their Tŷ brand before and didn’t really know what to expect but this brand new hotel by Celtic Collection, the team behind the Celtic Manor exceeded our expectations, providing the perfect base for our visit to Pembrokeshire.
This 4 star hotel is located at the entrance to Milford Waterfront , and the clever modern architecture of the building allows it to nestle snugly alongside the quayside and it caught our attention as soon as we arrived.
After taking photos on the Instagrammable yellow deckchair outside the hotel, we couldn’t wait to get inside and check out our home for the weekend.
Stepping inside the lobby, the hotel is ultra modern, chic and contemporary, opening further onto the bar area and the hotels restaurant beyond.
I loved the modern nautical theme and colour palette of deep blues and rusty browns of the public areas of the hotel, which really connects the hotel to its waterfront setting through the huge floor to ceiling windows.
It was not just the décor and ambience of the lobby and public areas that was impressive – the staff were so friendly and a credit to the Celtic Collection brand . By the time we had reached the check-in desk, we had been greeted by several of the hotel’s staff, already creating a great first impression.
Our superior family room
There are 100 bedrooms at the TY Milford Waterfront, a separate apartment and 4 unique rooms floating in the marina next to the boats, called ‘floatels’.
We were lucky to be staying in one of the hotel’s best rooms, a superior room on the top floor with marina view but best of all it had its own private balcony offering the views of Milford Marina.
There are only a handful of rooms at the hotel that have a balcony and its worth the extra cost for the outside space to take in the gorgeous sea views, if felt like being on a cruise ship.
There was a modern and contemporary look and feel to our room which was spotlessly clean, and at 35 sq metres offered enough space for a family with the hotel putting in additional trundle beds for the kids.
These beds were better suited for younger children rather than for older children like ours, but it was fine for a one night stay, ideally it would be worth looking into the option of interconnecting rooms which would provide even greater space and comfort.
The seating area and desk was perfectly positioned by the large sliding doors which created the perfect picture framing of the boats in Milford Marina below making it the perfect place to work or relax.
We never travel light even for an overnight stay and the room had plenty of storage space and all the mod cons you would want from a four star hotel offering all the facilities you require for a comfortable stay including:
- 43 inch wall mounted TV
- Air conditioning
- Safe, iron and iron board,
- Complimentary Parking
- Tea and coffee making facilities
- High speed WiFi
- Hairdryer and Ironing board
The modern bathroom was a little compact, with shower over the bath and Elemis toiletries – one of my favourites. I know hotels are trying to become more eco-friendly and reduce single use plastics which is why the toiletries were reusable and wall mounted, but I’m still a little apprehensive after Covid, and really didn’t like having these high touchpoint toiletries in the rooms.
Dining
Because of the hotel’s great location, there was a choice of great restaurants on your doorstep in the marina. However after a busy day at Oakwood theme park we didn’t want to venture out again and chose to make it easy dining at the hotel’s restaurant Dulse for our evening meal after it was recommended to us. I would highly recommend making a reservation in advance especially at weekends as it’s a really popular option for hotel guests and locals.
The restaurant was bright and modern, following the hotels nautical theme and is absolutely gorgeous inside. The hotel is built on quite a narrow footprint, but its clever design really makes the most of its waterfront location, with the huge wall of windows ensuring that all tables in the restaurant have great waterside views.
Led by executive chef Simon Crockford, the menu offers some of the very best locally produced produce from coast and farmland.
The children’s menu offered a good range of dishes even for the fussiest of eaters. Holly selected the tomato and basil soup with cheese on toast to start and tomato and mozzarella pizza and chips for mains, followed by two scoops of locally made ice cream.
From the a la carte menu to start, we chose the Grilled Tiger Prawns served with Garlic butter, lemon and samphire and the Chicken, Leek & Snowdonia Cheese Croquettes, with Chloe opting for the delicious Local Artisan Bread served with Seaweed butter and Pembrokeshire sea salt.
Moving on to mains, Chloe and I couldn’t resist the Market Fish in Tenby Harbwr Beer Batter with Dulse tartare sauce, mushy peas and lemon, served with chips and my husband chose the Pembrokeshire Dry Aged Rump Steak. This was served with stem broccoli, roasted garlic and house chips – all of the mains were as good as they looked.
To finish I chose the Rich Chocolate Tart with Marmalade ice cream, orange and vanilla compote and my husband had the Sticky Toffee Pudding with salted caramel ice cream. Chloe chose the stunning Crème Brulée Baked with Pembrokeshire Cream and I loved the fact that it came with Welsh cakes.
Prices were reasonable for a 4 star hotel and our dinner experience was excellent with very attentive staff.
I really liked the beautiful communal spaces to relax in, and we headed here after dinner with a stylish bar and a lounge area off the lobby with lots of comfortable seating areas, where we played card games until we were ready for bed.
We managed a good nights sleep even through a storm and headed back to Dulse for breakfast. The breakfast is served as buffet style but some items such as eggs can also be cooked fresh to your requirements. Compared to the dinner service the previous night the breakfast offering was a little disappointing with only a limited choice – perhaps our expectations were too high but this is one minor point where we felt the hotel could do better.
Location
Although there is no swimming pool or spa facilities here, it’s the hotels location to explore West Wales which will make it a popular option for families.
We have visited West Wales many times previously but have overlooked Milford Haven, Wales’ largest fishing port and one of the deepest natural harbours in the world.
We were taken aback by its gorgeous marina, home to 300 boats and a great selection of places to eat and shop – our favourites were Dilly’s for their hand-decorated chocolates, the Scoop for its ice creams made on site and Scott’s sweet shop.
It’s also the perfect base to explore this part of Pembrokeshire, we visited Wales’s biggest theme park Oakwood, which was a 30 minute drive away and other popular family attractions such as Folly Farm, Heatherton, Manor Wildlife Park or the Blue Lagoon waterpark are within easy reach by car.
We were planning on a re-visit to the UK’s smallest city St David’s, a 20 minute drive from the hotel but when we checked out of the hotel the weather had other ideas, so it’s provides the perfect excuse for another stay here at the Tŷ Milford Waterfront hotel again later in the summer.
Overall
Would we recommend a stay at this hotel? Yes without a doubt, the Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront is one of the best places to stay in West Wales. Finding a quality family friendly hotel is so important to us when we travel and this hotel ticked all the right boxes – we had such a wonderful stay.
The level of service received during our stay was exceptional and this high level of customer service is a credit to the hotel management because it really does make a difference during your stay.
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Prices at the Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront start from a very reasonable £153 per room for a family room with breakfast.