In a swaddle of green grounds unravelling towards the River Lagan, John and Louise Mathers are the ‘personable, totally customer-centred’ hosts of this ‘remarkable’ guest house. Come into the ‘gracious’ entrance hall of the restored Georgian house: paintings of Irish scenes hang on the walls; the lounge is an ‘intimate, comfortable room’, with seating arranged around the fireplace. Elegant bedrooms are furnished with family antiques. ‘My third-floor room overlooked the front lawn. Everything had been tastefully put together: a chaise longue, a slender wardrobe, a chest of drawers with polished brass handles. A helpful information folder included a comprehensive list of local activities.’ Flowers decorate the lawn-facing dining room, where the host cooks a three-course dinner five days a week, with much food locally sourced. (Light suppers are available the rest of the week.) ‘Home-baked soda bread accompanied a delicious pea and mint soup. A rib-eye steak was perfectly cooked; an elderflower panna cotta exquisite.’ In the morning, perhaps after Henry, the resident cockerel, sounds the call, breakfast is ‘simply superb’. (RG)