Bike Park Wales: Accommodation

Planning a wee jaunt (probably solo) down to BPW next May. Any particularly good experiences of bike friendly accommodation in the vicinity? Would consider anything from dirtbagging to looooxury.

We got back yesterday having stayed in Merthyr travellodge. It’s cheap, they allow bikes in rooms, it’s near to food outlets (good curry house, Nando’s and a crap all you can eat Chinese is what we sampled, there’s also a couple of chain pubs, McDonald’s and a frankie & bennys) and it’s a 5 min drive from BPW.

Would I want to go there on holiday? Hell no. Is it acceptable for a couple of nights? It’ll do.

I’ve always stayed at the Pentrebach Premier Inn, which is very bike friendly and will give you a ground floor / closer room if you ask.

Might try https://roostmerthyr.co.uk/ next time though.

Travelodge – cheap, dead easy, don’t even raise an eyebrow when you wheel bikes past reception (if you pick the 5 minutes a day someone is manning it), and lots of easy food choice.

a crap all you can eat Chinese

I’ll admit to have been tempted, but the reviews on Google/Tripadvisor make hilarious reading.

I’ll admit to have been tempted, but the reviews on Google/Tripadvisor make hilarious reading.

‘It’s my absolute favourite Chinese!’ – lady manning the TL desk. I assume she’s only been to that one.

As above. Travelodge or premier Inn. Both allow bikes.

Also had a couple of decent Airbnb’s in Aberfan which are close to the kebab shop.

When we used to stay, we’d always stay close enough to the town to go out for a few beers and a curry.
The Castle is clean and cheap, but looks terrible, so fine if you’re going out. It’s next door to a ‘The Winchester’ a concrete brightly lit pub, which is owned by a local brewery and has 3 or 4 decent real ales. The locals are friendly as well. One time we thought we were about to be attacked by an extremely pissed Welsh man, straight from work in his hi-vis railwayman gear. We was in fact heading over to tell us a joke and have a chat. His black eye was the cause of our suspicions, as opposed to his working man attire. He warned us about a really rough pub down the way, which we of course went to next time and that seemed fine as well.
We realised we always felt much worse when hitting the trails after a moderate piss up and fried breakfast, so now drive in the morning, we can do it in 2hrs 20 though.

A more looxury option where me and my son stayed a few months back – Greenachres AirBnB
Really good secure bike store.
We stayed at the Premier Inn in the past, and it was fine (my nice double bed was a LOT better than the AirBnB one!), until the boy was a bit too old to share a room with his old man 🙂

For a bit of loooxury:

Welcome to The Grange Guesthouse

Could not have been more welcoming, bikewash, storage, riders themselves.

Timely thread – I was planning a first BPW for next spring and The Grange looked like a great option. Would rather spend my money with locals (especially cycling ones) than chains.

Thread resurrection just to echo the sentiments about The Grange guesthouse linked above. Just a thousand tiny details got absolutely right. Friendly, fun, bike-loving hosts. Bike storage that you’d need semtex to get into. Dozens of locally brewed beers in the fridge, including loads of good non-alcoholic options. Smart, comfy rooms with a great shower (even the HAIRDRYER was a boutique model). Tonnes of breakfast options sourced from local suppliers (they even gave me a discount code for their condiments supplier, Chili of the Valley). All that and a garden Monty Don would trample a rare orchid for.

I paid £157, based on 2 sharing, for 3 nights’ b&b, plus beers.

10 minutes from BPW.