‘We had a great time at this Boris Johnson of hotels (pretends to be bumbling, actually hugely professional),’ say guests this year of the Fletcher-Brewer family’s ‘lovely, wacky’ hotel overlooking Cardigan Bay.

Unpretentious, rustic, homey, this small country hotel sits peacefully on the edge of the Brechfa forest.

Pheasants scatter on the lawn around this Italianate mansion standing ‘proudly’ by the River Usk, where Guide inspectors in 2016 found ‘a fine house filled with warm, amiable staff’.

‘Everything is exquisite’ at this ‘very welcoming’ country house retreat (Relais & Châteaux), where goldfinches, song thrushes and blackbirds flit about the ‘beautiful’ grounds leading to a vast bird reserve.

Meadows, mountains and Michelin-starred meals attract visitors to Susan and Bryan Webb’s ‘lovely’, rural restaurant-with-rooms, in a mellow-stone Georgian gentry house.

The name may mean ‘house among thistles’, but the ‘meticulously kept’ combination of manicured lawns, knotted gardens and meadow flowers tells otherwise.

‘Exceptionally welcoming’, ‘traditional but not stuffy’, this B&B wins applause from Guide readers who enjoy the relaxed, friendly atmosphere and the ‘well-informed’ staff (‘several of whom are family’).

The bounty of the ‘lovely’ Wye valley – including foraged pennywort, hedge bedstraw and nasturtium tubers, ‘all first for us!’ – inspires the ‘fresh, attractive’ food at this modern, Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms run by chef/patron Chris Harrod and his wife, Kirsty.

There’s ‘birdsong in the air’ and ‘a great atmosphere of peace’ at this ‘glorious’ country house hotel, in large gardens descending to the River Wye, say Guide inspectors.

How times change: steps from the medieval castle, Glyn and Jacqueline Roberts’s ‘impressive’ restaurant-with-rooms occupies two of Harlech’s oldest buildings, described in 1798 as a cheerless spot offering no bed, just a dirt floor strewn with rushes. Today, Guide readers praise the ‘excellent’ contemporary rooms, each well equipped with a king-size bed, tea and coffee, fresh fruit, Welsh spring water, slippers.

‘Helpful and attentive hosts’ Gary and Lindsay Ashcroft run their B&B in this ‘handsome’ Georgian rectory standing in large, well-tended gardens.

There’s much that appeals at this ‘superb’ hotel, in a skilfully spruced-up late 18th-century Gothic house looking out to sea, say guests in 2016: ‘friendly, helpful’ staff; ‘excellent’ food; ‘lovely’ spots to lounge in; a good-natured atmosphere throughout.

‘I’d be very happy if this were my local,’ says a Guide inspector in 2016, of the Inkin brothers’ ‘charming’ pub-with-rooms.

In a ‘postcard-worthy scene’ of a 17th-century coaching inn by the stone bridge over the River Monnow, Guide inspectors in 2016 found a ‘friendly’, ‘personable’ spot, where owners Richard Ireton and Sarah Hudson are ‘clearly invested in ensuring guests have a good time’.

‘A bustling place, popular with locals and visitors’, Glyn and Menna Heulyn’s small hotel stands on the quayside of this pretty fishing village. It remains a favourite among Guide readers.

A Bechstein grand piano presides over the beamed breakfast room in this granite former cowshed, today a modest, characterful B&B run by Eluned Rowlands.

Expect a ‘warm welcome’ at Huw and Beth Roberts’s ‘excellent’ hotel, on the lively Victorian promenade of this historic market town.

Behind the stone portico and long bay windows of this ‘atmospheric’ 19th-century seafront house, find a wealth of period detail and ornament – paintings, lamps, antique furniture, clocks, figurines.

There is ‘an atmosphere of heart-warming hospitality’ at Helen and Tim Withers’s small guest house, enveloped in the vast Montgomeryshire countryside.

There’s ‘an affable air’ to Edward and Louise Sykes’s ‘smart’ restaurant-with-rooms, in an ‘appealing’ Georgian coaching inn in this ‘attractive’ village.

‘A real haven’ on the edge of Snowdonia national park, this small guest house is run by ‘charming hosts’ Katrina Le Saux and Peter Cottee. Their ‘beautiful’ Victorian house overlooks Bala Lake.

‘Unfussy’, ‘warm’, ‘genuine’, Neil and Zoë Kedward's stylish country hotel stands in ‘flourishing’ gardens near the coast.

At the foot of Cadair Idris, Lorraine Hinkins and Alex Yorke’s ‘exceptional’ guest house is a ‘superb’ spot for walkers, anglers, cyclists and other guests in search of ‘excellent’ accommodation and ‘simple, yet seriously good meals’.

The ‘genuine warmth’ that imbues Robert Smith and Arwel Hughes’s much-loved rural B&B impressed Guide inspectors in 2016 as much as it does returning guests, who rave about the hosts’ ‘enthusiasm, support, flexibility and desire to please’.