Wilton Court

'Good room, excellent food, helpful owners.' An endorsement this year for this small hotel on the banks of the River Wye, facing the pretty market town on the Welsh borders. The pink stone part-Elizabethan building was once a magistrates' court (the bar is the former courthouse). It has ancient beams, leaded windows, uneven floors, a huge fireplace with its original iron grate. The owners, Helen and Roger Wynn, have filled it with curios and objets d'art from their time working (in hotels) in the Far East. Three of the traditionally furnished bedrooms face the river; others overlook the garden. An earlier visitor had an 'enchantingly pretty' room decorated in blue: 'crisp cotton sheets, striped duvet; kimonos in the wardrobe'. In the eaves is a family suite with two bedrooms. The conservatory-style Mulberry restaurant has beige Lloyd Loom tables and chairs. Michael Fowler is now the chef, and we would welcome reports on his British/European cooking (eg, carpaccio of Herefordshire beef, pickled chicory; seared tuna, Provençal vegetables). Manager Jason Davies leads a 'helpful' staff. Wilton Court has been given a gold award by Visit Wales (a rare accolade for a hotel five miles inside the English border). (Jamie and Wendy Woods, MW)