MISKIN MANOR –a Welsh Country House Hotel

I have been posted to South Wales recently and have been living in a town with a name containing a lot of Llllls,that I couldn’t pronounce if my life depended on it,for a couple of weeks now. So you might read some posts on restaurants,hotels and more from outside the capital for the upcoming months before I shall return to my beloved London.

As the town with a lot of Lllls is really not a place you necessarily want to linger on the weekends,I have started to explore the beautiful Wales and last weekend I ventured out to Cardiff and its surroundings.

MISKIN MANOR

Following the recommendation of a co-worker as well as a couple of UK Boutique Hotel Guides ( Signpost and a Conde Nast Guide from 209) we decided to stay at Miskin Manor,a country house hotel about 20 minutes outside of Cardiff.

But before I tell you about the hotel I have to explain to you about Stu and his toy. He is the proud owner of an electric sports car which is very blue and very pretty but needs to be plugged in for 12 hours every 250 miles. This is unfortunate (1) as the town with a lot of Llls is further away from London than 250 miles and (2) something always seems to happen while we are attempting to charge the car (plugs not working,people unplugging the car,…) and we end up being stuck in weird places (for example the ASDA in Wolverhampton which,by the way,sells the worst toasties in the history of toasties). I should mention here that fully charging an electric car uses the same amount of electricity as a light bulb and costs about 1 pound,isn’t this amazing!

(this is Stu checking the cable and wondering why the car is not charging)

This weekend proved to be no exception electric car wise,and Miskin Manor is not going to get a prize for electric car friendliness,but more about this later.

Miskin Manor which dates back to the 10th century is now a lovely hotel with 43 rooms,partly situated in cottages and partly in the main building,and is surrounded by a beautifully maintained park of 22 acres.  There were spring flowers everywhere –tulips,daffodils and primroses and one could feel the awakening of nature.

The Rooms:

We stayed in one of the cottages,a little apart from the main building. We were told that these were the former servants quarters. The room was spacious with a comfortable bed and a new bathroom. Overall a rather nice room and the heating was working. We had a weekend deal paying 90 £ a night which was great value for money. The standard rate of 158 £ per night for a double/twin room seems a bit much to be honest.

The Ambiance:

Miskin Manor is big on weddings as it seems,there was one wedding on each of the two night we stayed there. It didn’t matter very much to us though (and the guests were well behaved),but if you don’t like weddings then you better stay away. The bar area with a big reading room has an open fire,which was very comfy when it was burning on the first evening. The second night it was freezing in the reading room as the ‘expert for lighting the fire’  was preoccupied with other things. We managed to light it ourselves,it’s not that you exactly need to be an expert…

There is one major problem with Miskin Manor and this is the relative closeness of the A4. When you are outside you do hear some car noise in the distance and this doesn’t fit too well with the rural location.

The Service:

The staff at Miskin Manor was overall very friendly and made an effort. They tried to help with the car and were forthcoming when we asked about walks in the surroundings. They did not know any walks though,if this is due to them being ill informed or if there are no walks,I can’t tell you. There were also other details not quite right. We ordered a Times for Saturday,and we got a Guardian. On Sunday we got no newspaper at all.

When we checked out on Sunday,there were the unknown on the bill –50 pounds miscellaneous. We asked what this could be and we were told that this was for charging the car. Apart from the fact that the car did not charge at all during the first night because the plug stopped working and also did not charge during the following day as some busybody unplugged it from the plug that was working into another plug without resetting,we used about 1 pound of electricity. The manager reduced to 15 pounds in the end after we tried to explain our point,but considering that this service is usually provided free of charge by customer- (and environmentally-) friendly hotels and restaurants,this was poor and unflexible performance of Miskin Manor.

The Food

The food was actually really good and with £19.35 pounds for 2 and £24.45 for 3 courses not bad value for money at all. We had delicious and warming carrot and ginger soup (which was just as well considering how cold the dining room was) and luscious smoked mackerel as starters.

I loved my lamb,perfectly pink and juicy,with a truffle and Parmesan bake thing as well as pea puree on the side. The chicken with garlic and thyme potato puree was also rather delicious.

We had one major issue with the breakfast:it’s only until 10. Please,dear Miskin Manor,do breakfast at least until 10:30…it’s WEEKEND!!!  We managed to be in time once,the next day we were 15 minutes late and no breakfast

This was a shame really,as apart from the fact that they don’t know how to cook a poached egg,everything of my English breakfast was very well cooked. I even liked the sausage and I never eat sausages usually.

To Do:

Walking: Our little experiment with walking around Miskin Manor was not hugely successful (we did walk but it was not what you would call picturesque) so I can’t really recommend this.

Gym: Miksin Manor has a fitness centre attached which is rather big and well maintained and even offers classes and has a pool. Personally I avoid gyms like the plague,but I thought I’d tell you in case you are interested in other  physical activities apart from eating.

Cardiff:There is great shopping in Cardiff and of course the Cardiff Castle,takes about 20 minutes to get there from the hotel.

Penarth: a lovely coastal town with some nice restaurants and a beautiful walk on the cliffs.

Rating:

• Rooms:7/10
• Value:8/10 (with deal for 90£) 6/10 for standard rate
• Food:7.5/10
• Ambiance:8/10
  
• Location: 3/10
• Service: 6/10
• Electric Car Friendliness: 2/10
• Verdict: Overall the hotel seems a bit inflexible in their service (early breakfast,car issues). If they manage to iron out these issues,I would happily stay there again.

Details:

Single room from £118,double from £158

MISKIN MANOR
Pendoylan Road,Cardiff,South Glamorgan CF72 8ND,United Kingdom
01443 224 204

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