You wouldn't expect to find an ultra-modern boutique hotel in the middle of Carmathen Bay's coastal marshes, but that's exactly what you get with Hurst House on the Marsh. Once a farm estate, Hurst House has been subject to an extensive make-over, and has been transformed from an old farmhouse into a stone and blonde wood hangout for those in the know.

The facilities

Hurst House's restaurant menu benefits from the rural surroundings: locally sourced salt marsh lamb, sea trout and veggies from the garden give the modern Welsh menu a boost. Guests can eat indoors and out and, if you're after a drink, the chrome and stained glass bar attracts like moths to a flame. The hotel also boasts a spa and heated pool, plus three treatment rooms for a selection of massages.

The rooms

Just 17 rooms make up this Carmarthenshire hideaway. Designed by interiors guru Juliet de Valero Wills, most have a sexy Bang and Olufsen tech kit including wifi access, a flat screen television, DVD player and state-of-the-art sound system. Beds are kingsize (or bigger!) with Frette sheets: you'll wake up and never want to leave. Bathrooms have underfloor heating to keep you warm when you leave your walk-in Matki shower. REN toiletries come as standard.

Hurst House has four bedrooms in the main house and fourteen suites in its converted outhouses. Six of the suites have mezzanine-level bedrooms with lounges and bathrooms below.