‘We were charmed by the hotel and its attentive staff.’ Guide regulars declared John Edward Joyce’s country house hotel ‘in a class of its own’ in 2019, with praise for the man himself: ‘Mr Joyce has a gift for hospitality.’ The Victorian property is ‘the perfect place to unwind, with beautiful gardens to wander round, flower-filled public rooms, lovely valley views’. Guests are personally welcomed with tea and home-made biscuits. Traditionally styled bedrooms, with antiques and vintage prints, include ‘thoughtful touches that make it seem more a private house than a hotel’. One room has a four-poster, another an original fireplace; the best rooms, in the older part of the house, have dual-aspect countryside views. In the ‘graciously proportioned’ dining rooms, Angel Pirev’s ‘delightful’ four-course menus include venison, coffee, Szechuan pepper, Béarnaise sauce, turnip, shortbread; ‘effortlessly served on a busy night’, it ‘richly deserves its excellent reputation’. Come morning, feast on soda bread, perhaps ‘smoked salmon and potato farls’. ‘Pretty Adare is nearby, but why stir when you can happily while away the hours in a shady spot in the terraced gardens?’ (Helena Shaw, JH)