‘A wonderful place’, the Inkin brothers’ dining pub-with-rooms combines a ‘relaxed, happy-making atmosphere’ with ‘decently sized, nicely furnished bedrooms’. In a hamlet between the Brecon Beacons and the Black mountains, the ‘charming spot’ – family-friendly and dog-friendly to boot – shares the carefree-yet-professional approach of sister ventures in Zennor and Mousehole (see entries). Mismatched armchairs sit by the fire in the pub (a gathering place for locals). In the ‘appealing, shabby-chic’ dining room, short daily menus of ‘amazing’ food draw on the best local ingredients, including vegetables and soft fruit from the kitchen garden. Typical among the ‘inventive, creatively presented’ dishes: mackerel fillet, harissa; Welsh beef sirloin, watercress, bone marrow. Some of the smart, country-style bedrooms may be snug, but all the key elements are there: filter coffee, leaf tea, fresh milk, shortbread; magazines and a Roberts radio; ‘a lovely shower’. After breakfast – the apple juice is local – strike out on a hike, or simply browse the bookshops in Hay-on-Wye, a 20-minute drive away. ‘I’d happily stay here again.’