Cefn Mably Hotel

After taking a break from drinking here because the brewery took absolutely ages to bring in new people, I came back and met Mike, who’s running it now. He’s really enthusiastic and has loads of good ideas, so I hope it works out for him. Price-wise, I’d put it in the medium to high range for Penarth.

This is the closest pub to my house, though it’s had some financial troubles recently and, after being closed for a while, has made a few attempts to reopen. The current landlord is pleasant and seems to be giving it a proper go. They didn’t have the real ale or real cider I prefer, though, so I ended up paying £4.75 for a pint of Guinness.

We had a lovely Sunday afternoon in the beer garden, and all four of us were really pleased with lunch. The staff were amazing, helpful and accommodating, and the prices were great. One of us had apple crumble and was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t much crumble, but the food was absolutely delicious overall. We’d totally recommend the Cefn Mably.

The beds were cosy, the staff were polite, and the place was nice and clean apart from a few things: the lamp in our room didn’t work, the towels looked very old, and the cups were dusty. The key fob was a great idea and let us come and go whenever we wanted. The free car park with security gates was also great, and there’s a shop right outside. Food was expensive and there wasn’t much to choose from. Charging 20 for the dog for one night seemed excessive to me. Still, it was a nice, comfortable place to stay.