A community of timber cabins lurking in the sun-dappled shade of a landscaped pine forest, the Penlan "country club" near Cenarth is not an easy place to define. My first attempt was to cross Milton Keynes (as in low-density prefabricated housing project in uber suburbia) with a retro Scandinavian holiday camp.
In fact, this does a reasonable job of setting the scene: Penlan's prefab chalets were imported from Sweden in 1973, roughly the same time as the birth of Milton Keynes. But it doesn't do justice to the nature-park feel of the place; nor does it allow for the unexpected twist which is Caban Cariad.
On the surface it looks like any old Penlan cabin: a mini wooden bungalow, with a pitched corrugated roof, a decked terrace, a car-size patch of tarmac, set in its own little valley of pine trees. But throw open the French windows and the original red door, and Caban Cariad is a blast of colour.
There is pillar-box red carpet, Henry Massonnet orange glitter stools, flower-splodged sofa by Swedish textile designer Erika Pekkari, and a pair of Philippe Starck's dayglo plastic Eros chairs. One pine-clad wall is hung with cartoon strip Roy Lichtenstein lookalikes with speech bubbles in Carmarthen-shire dialect ("twill iddo fe, wi off I Genarth" (or "sod him, I'm off to Cenarth"). And there is, of course, a lava lamp.
In a playful return to Penlan's roots, it mixes modern Ikea, retro repros and 1970s originals to turn an unassuming holiday hut, into a 21st century shag-pad.
In this, the quiet corner of west Wales, where most of the cabins are furnished with net curtains and white plastic patio chairs, Caban Cariad could be as shocking to the neighbours as finding a couple of Swedish nudists in the woods. But it clearly has its fans. Within an hour of arriving, we had two curious little boys edging towards our patch. "Can we play with your toys?" they asked. They had, perhaps, spotted the bubble-gum pink television; and they had certainly seen us dragging our candy-coloured Starck chairs out on to the decking. We shooed them away. It may look like a playhouse (and children, says the sales blurb, "will love the bunk beds"), but it was designed mainly for adults. Indeed, Caban Cariad loosely translates in Welsh as "love shack".
Owner Greg Stevenson clearly had lot of fun kitting it out, but there is a serious side to his thinking. A lecturer in Welsh heritage at the University of Wales, he runs "Under the Thatch", a small "ethical" holiday letting company with the emphasis on rescuing historic buildings. Investing in a low-budget prefab like Caban Cariad was, he explains, a creative way of raising money for the conservation of older, more important buildings (an 18th-century thatched cottage, for example).
During the two years he spent looking for his dream cabin, he was amazed by the number of timber-built chalet parks dotted around the countryside, not just in Wales but all over Britain. They represent a genre of holiday experience which sophisticated Brits are rather snooty about these days, but in Greg's eyes they have "social history value"; they are prettier than static caravan parks; and at Penlan, the vintage cabins even have a modicum of architectural integrity. True, they are flimsy (jump up and down on the kitchen floor and you'll see what I mean), but they are well-planned and authentically Scandinavian. I particularly like the glass panels in the roof, which light up the interior with triangles of foliage.
Despite its charm, it would be foolish to suggest a trip to west Wales, just for the sake of grooving on retro decor. But to my mind Caban Cariad's chief justification is its glorious location. In the heart of Ceredigion, the largest but least populated county in Wales, it's an easy drive to the Pembrokeshire coast, and an hour from Snowdonia, but some of the best scenery is right on the doorstep. And though the coach-loads of tourists I found wandering Cenarth's Teifi Valley footpaths, suggest otherwise, it is relatively undiscovered.
The two nearest towns, Newcastle Emlyn in one direction, and Cardigan in the other, are refreshingly free of all those useless nick-nack shops which make pleasantly unpretentious market towns into tourist destinations. On a sunny day last week, the roads were empty. Ditto the beautiful sandy beaches. Thankfully, Caban Cariad's information pack provided an OS map and a little local knowledge. Otherwise we would never have found the two recommended National Trust beaches at Mwnt and Penbryn. Neither were marked on my standard road map, and as we navigated the narrow country lanes, I saw no signpost for either place.
When eating out, we naturally followed the same guide. In Cenarth (famous for salmon fishing, waterfalls, and the curious National Coracle Museum), we ate fresh sewin - locally caught sea trout - at the White Hart pub. At the Ship Inn at Tresaith, we ate home-made soups and enormous salads on a terrace overlooking the beach. And the award-winning food (seafood, tapas, Welsh lamb, organic veg) at the Harbour Master hotel in Aberaeron - an achingly pretty Georgian harbour town, all colour-washed houses and traditional pubs - was well worth the 40-minute drive from Penlan.
Closer to home, we enjoyed a surprisingly peaceful Penlan. The bar, the shop and the retro launderette, were all closed when I was there last week; there were squirrels everywhere, but only two people in the communal swimming pool. And when we finally drew the Ikea curtains on the outside world, Caban Cariad proved a cosy retreat.
The galley kitchen is a squeeze (and you have to be nine foot tall to reach the saucepans), and the bedroom is small, but the warm glow of a lava lamp and a "pebble" fire (a contemporary version of those 1970s flame-effect numbers) on a retro pine-clad wall, is all it took to convince me that the vintage cabin holiday is due a revival.
Where to sleep like a log
The High Cabin
Tyn-y-Groes, Snowdonia
Owned by the nearby Groes Inn (the first licensed premises in Wales, circa 1570), the High Cabin is more luxury hotel room than humble hut; the style is Alpine chalet and the emphasis is on enjoying the great outdoors in comfort. Set in secluded woodland, it offers a king-size bedroom, a heated veranda, an open-air hot tub, and great views of Snowdonia and the Conwy valley.
How much? £180 per night (minimum two nights).
Contact: 01492 650545, groesinn.com.
Castle Cottage Treehouse
Fittleworth, Sussex
Wrapped around the trunk of a sweet chestnut tree in the wooded grounds of Coates Castle, this thatched treehouse guest room (pictured) majors on the jungle-print decor but dispenses with the traditional rope-ladder access in favour of a proper staircase.There is a wide veranda with a swing seat, a glass-roofed bathroom, and a luxurious double bed wedged between two tree branches.
How much? B&B £80-£110 per room per night.
Contact: 01798 865001, castlecottage.info.
Monzievaird
Crieff, Perthshire
Spread out across 40 forested acres on Loch Monzievaird, this attractive Grampian estate offers four different types of self-catering cabin (choose from a six-bed Norwegian Conifer, or a Danish Pine for four), all featuring picture windows and cosy pine-clad interiors, Scandinavian-style furniture (plus the odd dash of tartan) and all mod cons including, in some cases, saunas.
How much? £335-£785 per week (depending on size and season), or from £70 a night (off season).
Contact: 01764 652586, monzievaird.com.
Tregonhawke Cliff
Whitsand Bay, Cornwall
This community of pre-war timber chalets, perched on the edge of the cliff commands one of the most spectacular locations on the south Cornish coast - and though all are privately owned, some are offered as holiday lets. An example is Mu-Vu-Koti, a modern rebuild, with two bedrooms and a deck with to-die-for sea views.
How much? £300-450 per week.
Contact: 01752 815905, shekhdar.com. (Another Tregonhawke Cliff chalet is let through Helpful Holidays, 01647 433593, helpfulholidays.com.)
Churchwood Valley
Wembury, South Devon
A low-key holiday village overlooking the sea at Wembury Bay, Churchwood offers 60 timber cabins and pine lodges in a variety of styles. The simple but well-equipped accommodation is designed to 'meld into the wooded environment' and each cabin has close-to-nature sit-out spaces and nice views. The beach is a 10-minute walk away.
How much? From £210 (low season) to £580 (August) per week.
Contact: 01752 862382, churchwoodvalley.com.
Way to go
Where to book: Caban Cariad at Penlan Holiday Village in Cenarth costs from £179-£279 per week, £99-£169 for a midweek break (Mon-Fri), and £139-£199 for a long weekend (three nights). For more information, contact Under the Thatch on 01239 851410, underthethatch.co.uk.
Guardian special offer: Under the Thatch has offered a 10% discount to Guardian readers who book one of its cabins before September 1 2005.
