Carmarthen Hotels: Where to Stay in Carmarthenshire

Carmarthen is a busy market town on the River Towy in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Visitors come for the castle ruins, the Roman amphitheatre and the covered market. The list of hotels in Carmarthen is short, and we checked every name on our old version of this guide. Several did not hold up. This page lists the places to stay in Carmarthen we could confirm, the ones we dropped, and the details you should confirm by phone before you book.

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Where to Stay in Carmarthen, Wales

Hotels in Carmarthen Town Centre

Carmarthen has a compact centre, and most lodging sits within a few streets of the castle and the market. Spilman Street and Priory Street hold the main names. Lammas Street also appears in business directories. We found one full-size hotel with clear, matching details from several sources. We found two smaller places with one solid source each. We treat those two as unconfirmed.

If you want a larger hotel with on-site parking, the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel is the clear first choice. If you prefer a pub stay or a guest house, read the two smaller entries below, then call before you book. Small places in Wales often change hands, close for refurbishment or stop taking guests with little notice.

Ivy Bush Royal Hotel

The Ivy Bush Royal Hotel stands at 11 Spilman Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1LG. Three separate listings agree on the address and on the core facts. Best Loved Hotels, Hotel Direct and Momondo all list the hotel. One listing shows the postcode SA31 3LG, so use SA31 1LG, which two of the three sources show.

Hotel Direct lists 70 rooms. Each room has an ensuite bathroom, a flat-screen television, free Wi-Fi, tea and coffee making facilities and a hairdryer. Best Loved Hotels mentions family rooms, executive rooms and a suite, though its room counts do not match the other sources. Ask the hotel which room types are free for your dates.

Check-in is from 2pm and check-out is by 11am, according to both Hotel Direct and Momondo. Hotel Direct also lists free on-site parking for 70 cars. Guests must register their vehicle number at reception or the bar. This matters in a town where street parking can be tight.

The hotel has a bar with local beers and wines and a restaurant with an evening menu and Sunday lunches. Hotel Direct lists buffet breakfast from 7am to 9:30am on weekdays and from 8am to 10am at weekends. Afternoon tea is listed from 2:30pm to 5:30pm daily. A fitness area is also listed. Best Loved Hotels adds a 24-hour front desk and lifts.

Best Loved Hotels places the hotel under one mile from Carmarthen Castle, with the railway station a six-minute walk away. We could not reach the hotel’s own website, so we could not confirm current opening status or trading name. Several listings use the name Ivy Bush Royal Hotel by Compass Hospitality. Phone ahead to confirm rooms and any works in progress.

Castle Hotel on Priory Street

The Castle Hotel is at 138 Priory Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1LR. The Wales branch of the Campaign for Real Ale lists the telephone number as 01267 468010. The same listing calls the place a small family run pub and hotel.

The listing names real ale, a garden, parking, games, sports television and Wi-Fi among the facilities. Accommodation is also on the list. The page gives no room count, no check-in time and no room details. Opening hours for the bar are Monday to Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from 1pm to midnight.

This is a single-source entry, and the listing does not say whether rooms are available today. Treat the Castle Hotel as unconfirmed. Call 01267 468010 and ask whether guest rooms are open, what the rooms include and how check-in works. Expect a pub atmosphere, with noise in the evening when the bar is busy.

Old Priory Guest House

The Old Priory Guest House sits on Priory Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1NE. Visit Wales lists the telephone number as 01267 237471 and shows an Approved badge. The listing gives 13 rooms with breakfast included. Every room uses a shared bathroom, so this suits travellers who do not need a private bathroom.

Guests get free Wi-Fi and free tea and coffee. A games room holds a pool table, darts, skittles and a television. Children are welcome. The restaurant serves grills, fish dishes, children’s menus, vegetarian dishes and bar meals. Visit Wales says the restaurant is open every night except Sunday.

We found this listing on the Visit Wales site only. Search results also showed the guest house on two booking sites, though we could not open those pages. The guest house website blocked our reader. We did not find check-in or check-out times. Call 01267 237471 to confirm the current room types, bathroom set-up and arrival times.

Other Carmarthen Hotel Names We Could Not Confirm

A business directory run by BT lists several more Carmarthen names. These are the Falcon Hotel and Restaurant at 111 Lammas Street, the Spilman Hotel at 36 Spilman Street and the Boars Head Hotel at 120 Lammas Street. The directory gives addresses only. The directory gives no phone numbers, no room details and no sign of current trading.

We found no second source for these three, so we do not recommend them here. We also do not say they are closed. If one of these names appeals to you, search for the current listing and phone the venue. Ask whether guest rooms are on offer. A directory entry alone does not prove a hotel takes guests.

Premier Inn Near Carmarthen and Motels Outside Town

Many visitors look for a Premier Inn in Carmarthen. Our old guide listed one. The Premier Inn website lists no hotel in Carmarthen. Its Carmarthen search page shows six hotels elsewhere, with Llanelli Central West at 21.4 kilometres and Llanelli Central East at 22.64 kilometres from the search point. Swansea and Tenby follow.

The Llanelli Central East hotel is on Llandafen Road, Llanelli, SA14 9BD. The Premier Inn site lists the telephone number as 0333 321 1242. The listing shows free parking, air conditioning, breakfast, a restaurant and free Wi-Fi. The page shows no check-in or check-out times, so confirm those when you book.

We found no motels in Carmarthen itself. Motels in the American sense are rare in Wales. Roadside inns and chain lodges sit on the main roads instead. The BT directory lists the Savoy Country Inn by Marston’s Inns on Tenby Road, St Clears, SA33 4JP, and the 3 Rivers Hotel and Spa at Ferryside, SA17 5TU. We could not confirm either, so check them before you plan around them.

Hotels We Dropped From the Old Guide

Our earlier version named five places. We removed all five old names. We found no confirmation of the Dragon Hotel or Y Fan as a hotel in Carmarthen. We found no Premier Inn on Corbetts Lane or anywhere else in the town, as explained above.

Caerphilly Castle Lodge and the Caerphilly Townhouse Hotel were wrong for this page. Caerphilly is a different town in South Wales. Those entries should never have appeared in a Carmarthen guide. We apologise for the mistake and we have taken them out.

We now give only the facts our sources support, and we state plainly when a detail is unconfirmed.

What to See Near Your Carmarthen Hotel

Carmarthen Castle overlooks the Towy. Discover Carmarthenshire notes the castle and County Hall above the river, and Visit Mid Wales lists the castle among the town sights. Entry details change, so check before you go.

The Roman amphitheatre lies east of the old town. Wikipedia describes the site as one of only seven surviving Roman amphitheatres in Britain. The arena measures 46 by 27 metres. The Romans called the town Moridunum, often translated as sea fort. Visit Mid Wales gives the same count of seven.

Carmarthenshire County Museum occupies the former Bishop’s Palace at Abergwili, and Discover Carmarthenshire places Bishop’s Park around the museum. The park has gardens, woodland and an ox-bow lake. Discover Carmarthenshire also describes a free self-guided Blue Plaque Trail through the town.

Shoppers should visit the indoor market, open Monday to Saturday according to Discover Carmarthenshire. An outdoor market runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a farmers market runs on the first Friday of each month. Discover Carmarthenshire also reports Oriel Myrddin as closed for redevelopment, so do not plan a visit there without checking.

Visit Mid Wales lists nearby sights with approximate distances. Llansteffan Castle is about seven miles away, Kidwelly Castle about eight, Laugharne Castle about nine, and the National Botanic Garden of Wales about seven. These are the site’s own figures, so treat them as a guide.

How to Choose a Carmarthen Hotel

Start with your needs. If you arrive by car, pick a place with parking. The Ivy Bush Royal Hotel lists free on-site parking for 70 cars, which sets the hotel apart. If you travel by train, stay near the station. Best Loved Hotels puts the Ivy Bush a six-minute walk from Carmarthen station.

If you want a private bathroom, choose a hotel with ensuite rooms. The Ivy Bush lists them. The Old Priory Guest House uses shared bathrooms. If you want a quiet night, ask the Castle Hotel about noise from the bar before you book.

If you want a chain hotel, plan a base in Llanelli and drive in. The Premier Inn site shows the distance as 21.4 kilometres to the closest Llanelli hotel, measured from its Carmarthen search point. Allow extra time for traffic and parking.

Always ask three questions by phone. Is the room free on my dates? What time can I check in? Is there parking, and does the hotel charge for parking? A short call settles the details a listing cannot.

Getting to Carmarthen

Visit Mid Wales says Carmarthen has a railway station on the West Wales line between Swansea and Fishguard. Choose Where reports regular services from Cardiff and Swansea, and National Express and local buses serve the town. Drivers can reach the town from the A48 at the end of the M4, according to Visit Mid Wales. Choose Where also places Carmarthen just off the A40.

Choose Where gives about 90 minutes by car from Cardiff. We did not verify other drive times. Check a live route planner and rail timetable before you travel.

What We Checked and What We Could Not

We checked the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel against three listings. We checked the Castle Hotel against the Wales CAMRA pub guide, and we read the Old Priory Guest House on Visit Wales. We read the Premier Inn website to test whether the old Carmarthen entry existed. We used Discover Carmarthenshire, Visit Mid Wales, Choose Where and Wikipedia for the town and its sights.

We could not reach official websites for the Ivy Bush or the Old Priory, and we found no second source for the Castle Hotel. We give no prices on this page. Rates change by date, so use the Expedia link above or phone the property for current rates.

Some travel sites list hotels we could not match with any second source. We left those out. We would rather give you three honest entries than five uncertain ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The best hotels in Carmarthen are few, and the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel is the strongest confirmed choice. The Castle Hotel and the Old Priory Guest House may suit travellers who prefer smaller places, but call both first. We removed five old entries, because we could not verify them or because they belonged to another town. Use the Expedia link for current availability, and phone any property before you rely on a listing.

Where else to stay in Wales. Every guide we have for the region.