Wolfscastle Country Hotel: Andy Stirling Celebrates 50 Years

The key to running a successful enterprise can take many forms – passion, commitment and hard work all play their part, but one thing that unites those businesses that stand the test of time is the ability and willingness to adapt and evolve. “Standing still has never really been an option,” says Andy Stirling, who this year celebrates fifty years as owner of Wolfscastle Country Hotel in Pembrokeshire. “In hospitality – like any other business, if you’re not moving forward then you’re going backwards. Time’s change and you have to change with them.” Andy’s five-decade journey to becoming one of the most respected hoteliers in West Wales is a case in point. Even he would struggle to At lunchtime, it would probably be hard for guests to believe that this started out as a squash club. “That was my original plan – a squash club… with good food!” As business models go, such a pairing might seem unlikely to most of us, but for Andy it was a match made in heaven. Originally from the Wirral and coming from a long line of wine merchants, Andy has the hospitality industry in his blood – but he has come a long way from the days of his great-grandfather carting wine barrels from farm to farm in the northwest of England.

His parents made the first step, running a successful restaurant across the border before buying St Non’s Hotel in St Davids, where Andy and his best mate Sandy cut their teeth as hoteliers. “It was certainly a baptism of fire,” he laughs. “Coming from England, there was always plenty of good-natured banter with the locals, especially during the rugby internationals. They taught me what I thought was a traditional Welsh greeting, which I would say to all our customers. It was quite some time before someone told me what it actually meant. Needless to say, it was not too complimentary to the English, but it was all good fun.”

While Andy and Sandy were making a success of his parents’ business in St Davids, one thing was missing from his life – squash. “I always loved playing squash. I played to a reasonable level, but after we moved to St Davids, I couldn’t find anywhere or anyone to play.” Eventually, by a rather circuitous route, he managed to sweet-talk his way into playing a few games at what was then RAF Brawdy. There he met others who shared his passion for the sport, and much of their changing-room chatter was about the need for courts outside the barbed wire of a secure military facility.

“One of my friends was an estate agent in Fishguard. One day he told me that there was a property – it was being run as a guesthouse at the time – coming on the market in Wolfscastle and that it might be a suitable venue for a squash club. It was £40,000. This was 1976. I had no money, so I went to see the manager of the Midland Bank in St Davids. ‘Duw, duw,’ he said, ‘that’s a lot of money. I’ll have to speak to someone at Head Office.’”

From squash club to country hotel

“Standing still has never really been an option,”

I’ll have to speak to someone at Head Office.’” “A couple of days later, my estate agent friend told me that someone else was interested, so I went back to the bank manager. He told me to go ahead and make an offer. I said: ‘so Head Office has approved me?’ ‘Oh no,’ he said, ‘I’ll just tell them it’s too late as I’ve already given you the money.’ It really was a different world back then, but suddenly I had this opportunity.”

Wolfscastle Squash Club became a massive success, hosting six teams in the Pembrokeshire squash league, scooping trophies and producing some fine players throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s. The other side of the business was growing too. In just a few short years, the attached restaurant was earning a reputation as one of the best places to eat in Pembrokeshire. By the middle of the 1980s, Wolfscastle Country Hotel had become one of Pembrokeshire’s premier venues for wedding receptions, club dinners and large-scale gatherings and celebrations.

The restaurant and hotel expanded to accommodate more guests and more diners eager to sample the ever-evolving menu. “I knew we had to move with the times,” Andy says. The venue continued to develop through a series of extensions and expansions to meet the changing demands of the Pembrokeshire public, but one thing never changed: Andy’s dedication to fine dining. That focus was recognised with an AA Rosette in 1996 and a second in 2014. Spa and wellness facilities followed in 2017. The redevelopment of the Allt yr Afon restaurant and the appointment of head chef Seb Smith in 2023 took the hotel to another level. In 2024, the venue earned three AA Rosettes and a place in the Michelin Guide.

A wider perspective

Seb might be the star man in the kitchen, but Andy and his wife Mandy recognise that the commitment of their entire team – some 39 members of staff – is central to the hotel’s success and longevity. “What keeps us going is passion,” says Mandy. “We are passionate about being the best we can be, but it is the passion of the staff – whether that’s bringing new ideas and approaches to the menu and in the kitchen, the spa staff or the wider hotel staff – that really keeps us on our toes.” “The most important lesson I’ve learned over the years is that you need to have the best people,” says Andy.

They are the ones who keep everything fresh and exciting with new ideas, new trends and a new perspective. “It’s hard to believe now, but when I was at catering college in the 1960s, no one had ever heard of gluten-free or nut allergies.

Three years of training to be a chef and I never once heard the words “dietary requirement”. Tastes and trends change, and the hotel and restaurant industry is no different. What matters most is to keep evolving and changing with the times.” With plans for further improvements and extensions already under discussion, there’s no sign that Andy, Mandy and the Wolfscastle Country Hotel team will be standing still or resting on their many laurels any time soon. The only thing that’s likely to stay the same is Andy’s unrelenting passion to ensure that Wolfscastle Country Hotel remains one of West Wales’ finest dining experiences.