The Gower Hotel

The Gower Hotel is a small rural property offering a rustic and quirky country atmosphere. From the exterior, the property looks like a modern, nondescript two-story house, but its interiors reveal a boutique-style ambience with one-of-a-kind touches. The reception area looks like the entrance to a country house, with hardwood floors, beautiful oak furniture, a grandfather clock, and playful art, such as the colorful moose-head sculpture. The restaurant and bar area is decorated in farmhouse shabby chic style, with wooden parquet floors, oversize leather sofas, heavy oak tables, contrasting pale-gray and almost black walls, atmospheric lamps, and black-and-white photographs of Marilyn Monroe and Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet and writer for whom the restaurant, Dylan's, is named. A sizable wooden deck provides a place to sit outdoors, and many guest rooms have private terraces overlooking the pleasant landscaped gardens. The large, bright function room is a popular venue for weddings. The Gower Hotel attracts families and couples looking for a rural retreat that offers more than the generic hotel experience.

The Gower Hotel is located on a quiet, residential country road next to a church near the town of Bishopston. This is a good base for exploring the picturesque towns and beaches of the Gower Peninsula. One of the peninsula’s most photographed beaches, Three Cliffs Bay, is a 12-minute drive away, and it takes 32 minutes to drive to Rhossili Bay, which has been designated as a national Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Mumbles, another popular tourist town, is 10 minutes away by car. Swansea Airport is about a five-minute drive from the hotel, while the city of Swansea is about a 20-minute drive.

The Gower Hotel is made up of a main building, where the Signature and Standard Double Rooms are located, and a smaller building at the back of the main building, which houses the Lodge Rooms. Each of the three Signature Rooms has its own singular details: St. Teilo has a private deck overlooking the ninth-century Norman church next door; Reynoldston has a large stone terrace; and the Room With a Bath has a cast-iron bathtub in the middle of the room. Some of the Standard Double Rooms are small, like Oxwich Green, which has a bed smaller than the average double. The Lodge Rooms are much bigger and have pleasant front porches, but the walls between rooms could use better soundproofing. All rooms are decorated in the same cozy and fun style, with wooden furniture, Philippe Starck Ghost chairs, paper lanterns, long shimmery curtains, old movie posters, graphic pillows, big soaking tubs, separate showers, and heated towel racks in the bathrooms, plus fun retro-style telephones and alarm clocks. All rooms include flat-screen TVs, electric kettles, robes, toiletries, hairdryers, and even hair straighteners, along with free Wi-Fi. 

Like many small properties, The Gower Hotel doesn't have a fitness center or pool. The popular on-site restaurant, Dylan’s, is open for lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner, and is popular with locals, as is the cozy Gower Bar. Breakfast is served for an extra fee in the restaurant, but guests give it mixed reviews. The Venue, the property’s spacious function room, is rented out for weddings and special events. Dogs are welcome in the Lodge Rooms, for a small extra fee to cover cleaning. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout.