Great House Guest House

A characterful stone guest house in the heart of Llantwit Major

Great House stands on the High Street of one of Wales’s oldest towns, a minute’s walk from the medieval square and the ancient monastic church of St Illtud. The building carries its centuries lightly: thick stone walls, deep mullioned windows and parquet floors set the tone the moment you step inside. It is run as a proper family guest house rather than a hotel, and that shows in the reviews, an exceptional 9.7 out of 10 from more than 180 Booking.com guests, which for a small independent place tells you almost everything worth knowing.

The bedrooms

Rooms are roomy and individual, several furnished with hand-turned four-poster beds beneath beamed ceilings and beside original fireplaces. Each keeps a private bathroom, a flat-screen television and a sofa bed, so a couple can spread out and a family has somewhere for the children to sleep. Garden and rooftop views fill the windows, fresh linen and towels are provided, and small extras such as a hairdryer and complimentary toiletries mean you can travel light. The guest bedrooms sit on the upper floors and are reached by staircase, so do ask when you enquire if that is a consideration.

Breakfast and the welcome

Breakfast is the part guests rave about: a full Welsh, English or Irish plate cooked to order and served in the beamed dining room, or carried up to your room if you would rather start slowly. Dietary needs are looked after with a little notice, packed lunches can be made up for a day on the cliffs, and a high chair waits for the youngest visitors. A shared lounge with a wood-burning stove gives you somewhere to settle of an evening, while the walled garden and sun terrace behind the house catch the afternoon light for a quiet cup of tea.

At a glance

• Family-run guest house in the old town
• Four-poster and family rooms, each en suite
• Full cooked breakfast included, made to order
• Shared lounge, walled garden and sun terrace
• Superfast wireless internet; entirely non-smoking
• Guest score 9.7/10 across 180-plus reviews

Exploring the town on foot

Llantwit Major rewards the unhurried visitor. The lanes around the door hold independent shops, a pair of tearooms and several long-established inns, while St Illtud’s Church, a seat of Celtic learning since the sixth century, deserves a proper look for its carved stones and lime-washed nave. When the sea calls, Colhugh beach and Cwm Colhuw sit under two miles south, where the clifftop trail of the Heritage Coast runs for miles in both directions. Cardiff and its castle are a half-hour drive, Cardiff Airport barely ten minutes away, and Cowbridge lies close by for an afternoon among its boutiques and delicatessens.

Who stays here

Regular guests come back for the town’s calendar as much as its coastline, whether that is the summer arts and food events or the Christmas lights strung along the High Street, and for a base that lets them enjoy it all without once touching the car. The house works for business visitors too, with the enterprise parks near Cardiff Airport and St Athan close at hand, a genuinely quiet night’s sleep, and a full cooked start to the morning. It suits walkers piecing together the Wales Coast Path, relatives gathering for a christening or a birthday, and couples after nothing more than a weekend of old streets and sea air. That breadth of appeal, rare in a place this small and this personal, is why the reviews stay so warm season after season.

Good to know

Rooms open at around £80 a night with that breakfast included, fair value for accommodation of this age and character so near the coast. Tap the booking button to see live room rates and the dates still open. If a ground-floor room would suit you better, please mention it when you get in touch.