Which? Travel name Jeremy Clarkson-approved hotel the ‘Best Beach Hotel’ in Wales

Nation Cymru staff

A Welsh hotel which earned high praise from Jeremy Clarkson has been named in a coveted list of Britain’s top seaside stays from Which? Travel’s team of secret hotel inspectors.

The travel experts scoured hotels across Britain, from Devon and Dorset to Fife and beyond, before compiling a list of 17 of Britain’s top seaside stays.

They write: “There’s nothing quite like a summer escape on the British coast. And recent heatwaves have proved you don’t have to travel far to enjoy a balmy beach break.

“With glamorous seafront hotels, nautical pubs with rooms and peaceful country boltholes to choose from, no coastal getaway is the same.

“Our undercover inspectors stay at hundreds of UK hotels to bring you honest and impartial reviews you can trust.

“Inevitably, we’ve checked into some shabby seaside hotels, but there are plenty of beachfront properties that we’d return to without hesitation. Our best-rated beach hotels in the UK range from spa resorts to pubs, but each offers quality accommodation, top-notch food and access to spectacular scenery.

“We completed stays at the hotels included within the past three years. Prices are for a summer Saturday night (peak price) and correct at the time of publication. All scores are out of five.”

In an England-heavy list, only one Welsh location made the cut for the judges – one approved by none other than Jeremy Clarkson.

Describing it as “the best beach hotel we’ve reviewed in Wales”, Harbourmaster Hotel, Aberaeron was a favourite for the Which? team.

With a Peak Price of £205 and a rating of 4.5 stars, the hotel impressed the judges immensely.

Which? share: “Back in 1811, when Aberaeron’s pretty port was completed, it was the harbour master’s job to keep a watchful eye over Cardigan Bay. His Regency-era house still stands on the harbour wall, decked in an imposing midnight blue, and today’s residents spend just as much time gazing out to sea – although they’re more likely to have a local gin cocktail in hand. The hotel feels homely and stylish in equal measure, with complimentary cake on arrival, a little harbour-view cwtch (alcove) for intimate dining and a light-filled café/bar that spills out onto the waterfront.

“Because of its prime position, nearly all the rooms have sea or harbour views. Our room, Martha Jane, was spacious, with a rolltop bath and west-facing terrace, which was perfect for watching the sun sink slowly into the Irish Sea. Inside you’ll find coastal-chic decor with beach hut panelling, nautical cage lights and even a porthole or two.

“Inventive nibbles such as Welsh rarebit fritters and pickled walnut (£6) set the stage for some sensational seafood mains. We tried the special: a crisp-skinned baked hake in a mouth-watering coral butter, which was first class but reasonable at £16.50. Breakfast was just as imaginative, with signature homemade beans and perfectly poached eggs cooked to order.

“Our verdict A relaxed seaside stay where the food is every bit as impressive as the views.”

Clarkson

In a divisive article for The Times, Jeremy Clarkson praised ‘the best hotel’, after spending a night in ‘an unpronounceable town’ in ‘real Wales’.

Under the title ‘The best hotel is Welsh – it’s in Abaeoeoaeoraeareareauraeary‘, he asked: “Who needs foreign travel anyway? We spent a night in an unpronounceable town and it was brilliant.”

Explaining his rationale for choosing to holiday in the UK, “thanks to the dispute between Mr Trump and what’s left of the Iranian regime” as well as the Chancellor deciding that “Mrs Reeves has decided she needs all your money to fund Sir Starmer’s exciting mental health initiatives in the community”, he claims that people in the UK must now “consider the quaint notion of taking our summer holiday at home”.

Sharing his experience, he writes: “Last week, I went to Wales for a couple of days and I’m talking about real Wales. The bit that’s so far away, it has an American postcode. When I went over the Severn Bridge, the sat nav said I still had 160 miles to go. I didn’t know Wales was that wide. And it’s not like you can get the journey over quickly. Maybe things will change now the country’s under new management but for now, there is a blanket and rigorously enforced four mile an hour speed limit.

“Still, there were no potholes and after just four hundred hours, we arrived at the tip of what I call the pig’s snout. Pembrokeshire, I think, is its real name. God almighty, it’s pretty. The fields are a shade of green we don’t really have in England, and the hedgerows are rammed with wild flowers. Campion and, er, some blue ones and ones that looked like laburnum. But weren’t. For once, the sky was cloudless. I saw many locals pointing at the sun and cowering, for they knew not what it was.”

“Ket and suicide”

Despite not naming Aberaeron by its real name – or noting that it is in fact in Ceredigion and not Pembrokeshire, he added: “To me, it all felt delightfully foreign and not just because all the road signs are in Welsh, and none of the villages have vowels. There’s more to it than that. We don’t have colourful hedgerows in England and we don’t have smooth, deserted roads that dip into pretty valleys before rearing onto the next moorland pass. I rarely say that anywhere in the UK is better than north Devon, but this is. It’s nearly as good as Yorkshire. We overnighted in a coastal town that I’d never heard of, and which is unpronounceable. Abaeoeoaeoraeareauraeary. Something like that. It’s like they’ve taken all the vowels that none of the other towns had used and deployed the lot.

“Every one of the terraced cottages around the harbour is a different colour. There was a trendy-looking shop selling honey ice cream and an old Citroën van where you could get Hackney-style hipster street food. It was achingly beautiful and it was full of Enid Blyton kids going fishing and eating chips out of newspaper. We sometimes think that Wales is really only about ket and suicide but this place had its mojo on, that’s for sure. But now we arrive at the thorny British issue of where to stay, because until very recently, it was either with Lenny Henry, which is not very holidayish, or in a small privately owned hotel with nylon sheets and an owner who hates everyone who comes through the door and puts the veg on to boil when you make your reservation.”

Clarkson’s choice of hotel was Aberaeron’s Harbourmaster – an independently owned boutique hotel, bar and restaurant.

Established in its current guise since May 2002, winning accolades for its hospitality, food, wine and service. The historic building was built in 1811 as the home and office for the harbourmaster.

Clarkson shared: “But now we have the Harbourmaster hotel in Abaeoeoaeoraeareauraeary. I stayed recently at the Four Seasons in Miami and that was very good, but this is better. This is the best hotel … in the world. The staff were fantastic, the view was pretty, they sold Hawkstone, and for dinner, I had deep fried cockles followed by sea trout. Which were, to use a traditional Sunday Times word, historic.

“After dinner, we went for a walk along the new sea wall and watched the big orange sun sink into the purply evening sea. We were in the UK. But it didn’t feel that way. Were it not for the fact it was about 12 degrees, we could have convinced ourselves we were in the Caribbean.

“The next day, it was raining and we drove for five hours through scenery that made us bite the backs of our hands to stop us from crying out, and through towns that we had never heard of. One, I’m fairly sure, had a Woolworths. It’s entirely possible the staff haven’t been told it’s gone now. And then the sun came out, and there were pot holes and we were on the ring road round Worcester and our trip was over and normal service had resumed, and it was shit.”

Harbourmaster

The Harbourmaster was recognised by the Good Hotel Guide as one of the winners of its prestigious César Awards in 2024.

Announced annually, the Césars (inspired by Swiss hotelier César Ritz) comprise a collection of outstanding hotels, inns and B&Bs throughout Britain & Ireland that are recommended by readers and backed by professional inspection.

For 2024 the Césars award for the best hotel in Wales was awarded to the Harbourmaster in Aberaeron.

The colourfully painted hotel which sits on the edge of the harbour in Ceredigion, was the stand out choice.

Named after different historic sailing ships, the maritime-themed rooms in the former harbourmaster’s house all have sea views; the top-floor suite is particularly sought after. There are plenty of local specialities in the restaurant.

Wells and Louise Jones of The Harbourmaster, said at the time: “We are absolutely over the moon to have won such a highly regarded award. The team, managed by Dai Morgan, work exceptionally hard to maintain the excellent standards that the Harbourmaster has built over the years and we are delighted for them all that this has not gone unnoticed.

“Hospitality has been a challenging industry over the last few years so to win this award is just wonderful and will be a real boost for all the staff.”

Read Jeremy Clarkson’ s ‘The best hotel is Welsh – it’s in Abaeoeoaeoraeareareauraeary at The Times.

The best beach hotels Which? visited

• Bedruthan Hotel, Cornwall
• No. 124 by Guesthouse, Brighton, east Sussex
• The Suffolk, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
• The Grand, Brighton, east Sussex
• No.42 by Guesthouse, Margate, Kent
• Harbour Beach Club Hotel & Spa, Salcombe, Devon
• The Harper, Langham, Norfolk
• The Rose, Deal, Kent
• The Swan, Southwold, Suffolk
• The Pig on the Beach, Dorset
• Moonfleet Manor, Dorset
• Artist Residence, Brighton, east Sussex
• Bike and Boot, Scarborough, north Yorkshire
• The Crown and Castle, Orford, Suffolk
• George and Heart House, Margate, Kent
• Harbourmaster Hotel, Aberaeron, Ceredigion
• The Ship Inn, Fife, Scotland

Find out more and book directly at Harbourmaster Hotel

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