A Stay & Foraging Experience at Llys Meddyg with Visit Wales (Ad)
This blog post is part of a paid partnership with Visit Wales but all thoughts, words and images are my own.
Following on from my tales of a slow weekend getaway in Pembrokeshire, I wanted to take a separate post to talk about the boutique hotel we stayed in and the foraging experience we enjoyed on the Saturday of our trip.
Llys Meddyg was the perfect home-from-home to spend a slow and relaxing weekend on the Welsh coast. Not a fan of large impersonal hotels, I much prefer a small and cosy boutique experience with personal touches. This Welsh bolt hole is a labour of love for its owners, full of interesting details and intriguing history. By the time we left, we felt part of the family - especially when our foraging ingredients found their way onto our breakfast table!
Run by Ed and Lou Sykes, Llys Meddyg is a Grade II listed Georgian coaching house located in the heart of Newport, just a short stroll from the coast. Consisting of just eight bedrooms (and a yurt) the hotel is just the right size. We barely saw or heard the other guests, but were made to feel welcome by the attentive staff. Mornings were spent enjoying lie-in’s in the incredibly comfy king-size bed, while we retreated to the cosy cellar bar in the evenings to nestle by the roaring wood-burning stove.
Our bedroom was at the top of the main house, providing everything that we needed for a weekend stay - including two delicious freshly baked shortbread cookies waiting for us on arrival. The room ticked all boxes for me: large comfy bed, sofa, a variety of Clipper teabags, reading lamps, a freestanding bath and separate shower. The bedroom felt snug and cosy with its small windows and beautifully crafted Welsh blankets, whereas the bathroom was spacious and full of light. One of those rare hotel rooms that you don’t want to leave!
Something that I loved about Llys Meddyg was all of the different spaces to discover. Downstairs, there are two separate lounge areas with comfy seats and traditional board games to play. The cellar houses a warm and cosy bar, with a small outdoor space beside a little stream. Behind the house sits the mews building: kitchen and dining room downstairs and two additional rooms above. Behind this building is the kitchen garden, home to herbs and vegetables, the salmon smoking house and the yurt. We managed to spend time in each area of the hotel, and especially fell in love with the garden. In the past, roses and dahlias grown here were sent by train to London where they were sold at Covent Garden market. I’d love to return in summer to see the garden in full bloom.
We didn’t get chance to enjoy a meal in the hotel restaurant (another reason to return!) but did enjoy two delicious breakfasts that filled us up for the day. Following toast, pastries, yoghurt and granola, there was an extensive cooked breakfast menu with both sweet and savoury options. Both days, Dave opted for the Welsh breakfast (pronouncing it ‘the best he’s had in ages’) and I opted for halloumi, tomato, mushroom and spinach. The latter was served with our own foraged pennywort on the last morning - a lovely touch.
I’ve always had a keen interest in foraging and growing/picking your own food, so was delighted when I discovered I would have the chance to learn more. Our foraging experience was booked through the hotel and hosted by owner Ed Sykes. We spent four informative yet fun hours in the company of Ed and the rest of our small group, wandering down country lanes and along the estuary in search of edible plants. Dependent on the time of year (and the tide), the group hunts for plants, shellfish, seaweeds and berries that all grow in the wild. Ed talked us through his finds, explaining what can and can’t be eaten as well as pointing out plants that have medicinal uses. Although the foraging walk was informative, it was also a fun way to spend an afternoon. Ed and the others were brilliant company and it felt like a day spent among friends.
Our bounty was much larger than expected! I couldn’t believe just how many edible plants surround us - plants that I walk past every day without a second glance. Our foraged finds included Jack-in-the-hedge (a plant with large leaves with a peppery taste), pennywort (circular, sweet leaves), sorrel (one of my favourite finds), rosehip (I was surprised to discover the fleshy part of rosehips is both edible and delicious), sloes (involving a hilarious attempt to reach the highest berries), watercress (picked from a stream close to the sea) and sea beet (similar to spinach, a leaf that goes with everything).
Ed explained that this is the time of year to prepare for winter. Most of the berries have gone, but there are many ingredients still around that can be used to make vinegars, pickles, chutneys, pestos and flavour alcohol - all non-perishables that can last you through winter or be given away as gifts. We’re now hatching plans to convert the space under our stairs into a pantry for all the jars of preserves we want to make!
Back in the hotel garden, we based ourselves at a picnic table to prepare and eat a late lunch. The first treat was a gin and tonic garnished with our foraged finds - sloes, rosehips, fennel and bay leaves. We sipped our drinks as Ed talked us through preparing a salad and pesto to eat with pasta cooked in front of us over a Swedish candle. The meal was deliciously fresh, and it felt incredible eating a meal that predominantly consisted of ingredients that we’d picked ourselves from the wild.
The hotel uses many foraged ingredients in both their food and drink menu (we later discovered our sloes in a cocktail and leaves on our breakfast), as well as plants grown in their own garden. It’s little touches like this that I loved, and that will tempt me back. The foraging experience really resonated with us both, and is definitely something that we will be continuing. I’ve already located a local rosehip bush.
Foraging experiences at Llys Meddyg start from £75, more information can be found here.