I came here last summer as a friend of mine used it as the setting for their wedding and I have to…read moreadmit, I thought it was an excellent venue. The hotel itself is privately owned and the staff there combined friendly efficient service with excellent facilities to ensure the day went smoothly. Their in house restaurant Carriages, was fantastic, which didn't come as a surprise as it was recently awarded a coveted AA Rosette. The interior was stylish and elegant, with a good atmospehere and excellent locally sourced produce. As an elegant period building set in pretty gardens, Alveston House Hotel stands out from the crowd.

Love this place and wish we'd found it earlier in our stay in Brecon…read more Genuine pub, genuine people, genuinely funny landlord and landlady and two of the friendliest dogs I've ever met! Oh, and the beer and ale's not bad as well! We visited on a Saturday and had missed the Friday night live music, which we were gutted about because it sounded like a good night had been had by all. The barman was hilarious; he was sneaking a half a lager before his wife came back from walking the dogs. I put it to him that half a lager wouldn't hurt, to which he replied 'it's my fifth half and what the wife'll do to me if she finds out will definitely hurt'. Priceless. They had a guest beer on tap, though I've forgotten it's name. I do remember that it tasted great, though. If we're in Brecon again and fancying a wee tipple, we'll head straight for The Bull's Head and its warm welcome.

We stayed at The White House the night before a large walk. This is a family run B&B which sleeps…read moreabout 8 people. The owners were really friendly and helpful. The rooms were en suite and they were exceptionally clean. There was standard tea and coffee making facilities available! The breakfast in the morning was fantastic. A good selection of available choices with extras such as fruit salad, cereal etc. thrown in at no extra cost. Overall, I thought this place was great. If i was going back to this area, I would definitely consider staying here again.

Really lovely food at a great price, lots to choose from…read more They do a fantastic Sunday lunch that we would recommend to anyone. Staff are great and pub looks really nice.

Based outside of Coleford it is not accesible with public transport…read more Great pub for family days out, nice retaurant and great food. Staff are friendly and pub kept clean. Only problem was last time i vistied for a meal we were a party of 10 and all our food was cooked seperatly some were cooked in 20mins others had to wait over an hour.

There are not enough words to express my positive thoughts about this hotel. We ended up choosing…read morethis hotel as way to base a trip off to Wales. I had never been, and my boyfriend wanted to give me an introduction to the Welsh countryside. We stayed on a Sunday night and had their spa package. Therefore, when we arrived we went straight to the spa. The spa is a little small, but still a great treat. There is an ample hot tub and sauna. While we were there, two other guests also were. With the other guests we were able to time it so that it did not feel over crowded. The relaxation room is also a great treat and should not be missed! Our massages at the spa were perfect, we had them in the couples room. The food is absolutely delicious! Their chef really knows what they are doing. They made sure that the dining room did not get too empty, so while there were other people there we were mostly left alone in a corner. Overall this was a great introduction to Wales. It is worth the car rental to get here!

Tucked away down a lane which crosses the M5 near Cribbs, before disappearing into the depths of,…read morewell, who knows where, Berwick Lodge is an imposing red-brick mansion house recently converted into a boutique hotel by visionary couple Fevzi and Sarah Arikan. The restaurant is Chris Wicks' (of Bell's Diner, Bar One30 fame) new baby - and for me, was the main draw of this rather luxurious new establishment (opened September 2009). As we stepped out of the taxi we were greeted by someone who took us into the house, arranged for our coats to be squirreled away and checked us in for dinner. We started with drinks and canapes - bread sticks, enormous olives and fried balls of risotto - in a drawing room oozing warmth and opulence, stuffed with grand oversized sofas and other awestruck dinner guests sipping bubbly. We'd have happily stayed there all night, but before long we were ushered through to the elegant dining room. The menu is full of scallops, foie gras, rabbit, seabass, pork belly and the like, with a smattering of 'textures', 'purees' and the occasional 'foam' woven in (haggis porridge features an accompaniment to one dish too), exactly as you might expect if you've ever been to Bell's Diner. To kick things off, a small glass of hot, foamy crevette bisque was brought out 'courtesy of the chef'. Bursting with flavour, it was a promising glimpse of things to come. I had rabbit followed by pork belly, and the dishes were as surprising and intriguing as they were tasty. Determined to squeeze in a pudding, I opted for 'Honeycomb 'crunchy' glass but got a chocolatey concoction with almost popping-candy style crunchy bits. Not sure if I'd misread the menu or what, but it was delicious. We retired to the drawing room for tea and coffee, feeling pleasantly full and very pleased with ourselves. As we finished up we spotted the owner, Sarah, and asked if we could have a tour of the hotel while they called us a taxi. She was happy to oblige and her excitement and pride in the place was utterly infectious as she showed off the beautiful bedrooms and bathrooms (roll-top baths and mosaics aplenty) and the amazing stained glass dome they found at a local salvage yard (you'd never have guessed it wasn't an original part of the house). My husband and I agreed that had Berwick Lodge been around when we'd been planning our wedding, we'd have been very tempted to have it there - it's a very special place. The food at Berwick Lodge is complicated and beautiful, tasty and innovative, while the staff here are friendly and attentive - you feel very looked after and unquestionably special dining here. Quite possibly heading for a Michelin star, it's the perfect choice for a birthday or anniversary but at £39.90 for dinner (or £29.90 for lunch) and wine starting at around £20 a bottle, next time we go it'll probably just be for afternoon tea (£12) - until we've had time to save up for our next full-scale Wicks fix!

Smart boutiquey hotel - fantastic food and great staff.read more

Excellent traditional British Sunday Roasts in this lovely old country pub and hotel in a very nice…read morepart of South Wales.

I happen to stop in here from time to time as my father has lived here for over ten years…read more Excellent place for a pint and even dinner...or even a quiet corner to read a book.

Welshcake took me here on our way to Nanternis back in April 2008. It was--as he would…read moresay--stonking. The inn itself is cozy, but everything in the U.K. countryside seems cozy to me. I felt like I might see Bilbo Baggins at any moment, but if I did he'd be wearing Burberry. It's not a mid-grade pub by any means, though the front room is set up as such. We dined in the back room, which consisted of about six tables and a wee fireplace. The decor was rustic and the rooms were clean. Our meal began with a butternut-squash type amuse-bouche, which made our eyes pop in delight and set the tone for the rest of the meal. The soda bread was equally amazing. I ordered the scallops, which were divine and accompanied by a mushroom "marmalade," and Welshie had the local Welsh rib eye, (which I sampled--divine). He's always on about Welsh black beef--it's a delight any visitor to Wales should sink his or her teeth into. While I've categorized this as British, this is not standard, stodgy, British country fare. The chef is obviously French-trained (though maybe I'm wrong), inventive and experimental, serving up accessible, classy mainstay dishes alongside mind-bending and palate-pleasing "risks." I've been waiting for Yelp to go U.K.-side just so I could review the Griffin. We will always go back to this gorgeous little house of deliciousness when we are in Wales. Top notch!

After a beautiful day walking in the Brecon Beacons with people 30 years older than us but…read moreapproximately 30 times fitter, we decided to go all out and head for the Griffin, despite smelling and looking basically quite bad. The Inn is a cosy, well kept place with a nice bar and lounge as well as the restaurant which spills out into the tack room where we were seated. Like the other reviewers, I found the amuse-bouche of soup - broccoli this time - absolutely delicious (unlike the other reviewers, I had no idea what amuse-bouche was until I read this page). Squash soup to start was rich, spicy and creamy, the flavour of the vegetable only being strengthened by the other ingredients. The smoked salmon fish cakes were about as good as fish cakes can be - all about the fish and lightly crunchy. Main courses were also fantastic - pork belly was sweet and juicy, served with pancetta and I think mash - the accompaniments were not as excellent. The other main, suckling pig, was a huge hit and came with a tasty selection of roasted vegetables. Dessert was lemon tart, for which I didn't have particularly high expectations, but it was about the best I have ever had and - bonus - came with delicious blackcurrent sorbet. The other one we tried was some kind of chocolate/banana confection which was intensely good. The barman was very helpful in suggesting sherry, wine for the main course and pudding wine, the last of which was particularly outstanding. Service otherwise was all right but not particularly attentive and complicated by the fact that three people were sharing service of our table. Also, they made a major mistake with the bill that had I not been paying attention would have cost us about £25. This was related to us ordering a starter from the set menu and a main from a la carte. We heard someone else doing the same and being assured it was fine but when we asked they said this was only for guests staying at the Inn. Quite the put down!