The latest edition of Wales — Great Little Places has just been published, offering a choice of 60 places to stay, ranging from a seafront B&B to a country estate. Launched 16 years ago, the booklet is designed for budget-conscious travellers looking for friendly accommodation that is often too small to attract the major guidebooks.
The booklet is compiled by Emyr Griffith, who says he looked for “hosts with personality, enthusiasm and uncompromising standards” and for buildings with character and a sense of history as well as in beautiful locations. He favours properties with the standards of a good hotel but without the price tag, which include Firgrove, a Georgian house near Ruthin, where B&B for two costs £50 to £80 a night.
New entries this year include Seabreeze, on the seafront at Aberdyfi and backed by mountains, where Ian and Linda Hinton offer B&B for two from £75. The Lion at Berriew, near Welshpool, is a warm and welcoming village inn that epitomises hospitality and great value and charges from £70 for B&B for two. The list includes Seaview, the former home of Dylan Thomas at Laugharne.
Possibly the most imposing new entrant is Slebech Park, a castellated house set on the shores of the eastern Cleddau, which flows into Milford Haven. With designer rooms and a fine dining restaurant, it is certainly a great, but not so little, place to stay.