I am currently in this hotel as I start writing this, so strong is my desire to save others from losing not only their hard earned cash but hours of precious sleep.
Let me tell you a little about the location of this pub hotel. Situated in the provincial Welsh town of Carmarthen, a place seemingly stuck in a pre-millennium timewarp filled with some pleasant locals but primarily a demographic of OAPs, lager louts and bored looking teenagers, in which the only source of entertainment is to marinate oneself in as much alcohol as your enzymes can handle.
The location aside the Rose and Crown is fairly innocuous in terms of looks, although I did sense a ripple of tension from the locals as we walked into the pub (The League of Gentlemen kept popping into my head for some inexplicable reason!) I had come down to Carmarthen to surprise my fiancé as he was working down there for a few days, and staying at the hotel. Despite his already having paid for the room I still had to pay £20 for the privilege of sleeping in the other unoccupied single bed in my partner's room. Apparently the manageress was doing us a favour by allowing this, and told us that they'd had problems with guests bringing...ahem...."visitors" back to stay before. Despite feeling slightly disgruntled by being categorised with certain ladies of the night I paid up as quite frankly I couldn't be bothered driving the hour and a half home.
There were 8 rooms in all, each fairly basic in design but clean and serviceable. The bathrooms were a happy surprise - each with a large, new shower cubicle, which were very well maintained. The beds were, like most cheap hotels, not exactly the height of comfort but quite frankly we were so exhausted we would've slept on anything. Unfortunately however sleep alluded me all night, with a cacophony of noise spewing from the pub and the locals trundling up and down the street until 5.30am. I was so tired by the time my alarm went off I decided to skip breakfast to catch a few extra precious minutes sleep.
If you're a night owl yourself The Rose and Crown would probably suit you down to the ground, but as a resting place for tired business persons, or as a romantic getaway (though I can't imagine anyone choosing Carmarthen for a romantic weekend away) I would recommend you stay elsewhere! read more