Langland Bay Manor

If you're looking for somewhere large and very comfortable in South Wales, right on the beach with superb sea views, then you'll find it hard to do better than this bright 3-bed luxury apartment on the second floor of Langland Bay Manor, on the south-facing coast of the Gower peninsula. Housed in a beautifully converted 19th century, Grade-II-listed Victorian manor, Llan-y-Llan – as it was originally known – was the summer residence of a local steel-making dynasty before being turned into a hotel at the turn of the 20th century. Having recently even extensively restored as a collection of luxury apartments, it's a chance to experience the baronial life first-hand.

This 3 -bedroom, 3-bathroom apartment makes the most of the building, with amazing views over the bay, the neighbouring golf course and the manor's manicured grounds, which offer communal gardens, a barbecue and lots of places to sit and catch glimpses of the sea while enjoying the sound of the waves through the trees. An elevator whisks you up to your apartment, which has a spacious sitting room with Sky TV, CD and DVD player and lovely sea views, and a contemporary kitchen-diner with granite worktops and  everything you could possibly need, including a dishwasher and washer-dryer. Its three bedrooms are large and versatile, suiting both a family or a group of friends, and consisting of one room with a king-size bed, a second bedroom with twin beds (which can be converted to a double) and en-suite bathroom, and a third room with bunk beds and en-suite bathroom. There's also a large family bathroom with a bath/shower.

Langland bay's trump card is, however, its position right on Langland Bay's beach, form where you can follow the coastpath to Mumbles Head or the bustling village of Mumbles, with its bars, restaurants and shops. Beyond here, the rest of the Gower Peninsula is a delight – as you might expect of the UK Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB, and is an ideal spot for walkers and birdwatchers, cyclists and beach bums, with an abundance of sandy beaches, cliffs and woodlands to explore.