Best hotels in Monmouthshire 2022: Where to stay for Michelin-starred Welsh cuisine and rural charm

Wales is at its most green and giving in the borderlands of Monmouthshire, where the River Wye ribbons through ancient woodlands and past ruined abbeys beloved of Romantic writers, poets and painters. On the fringes of the remote Black Mountains, castles, priories and Iron Age hill forts nod to a rich past, hiking trails thread up to wind-rippled, bracken-cloaked moors, and towns like Abergavenny and Monmouth serve the country’s best food (twinkle, twinkle Michelin star).

In amongst it all, you’ll find some of the country’s most alluring places to stay, from country inns hugging riverbanks to medieval priories just a whisper away from the Offa’s Dyke Trail and, of course, many a cracking restaurant with rooms, where you can fill your boots and rest your head.

The best hotels in Pembrokeshire are:

Location: Whitebrook

The woody, river-woven romance of the Wye Valley never seems more thrilling than when you are wending your way along hedgerowed lanes to this utter stunner of a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms. The look of the place is a subtle, discreetly stylish mix of country meets contemporary, with muted colours (greys, blues, golds) referencing the brook and valley, wooden floors, lots of light and space. The giant sleigh beds are divine, especially after a blowout feast. And, let’s face it, you’re here to eat.

The Whitebrook is right at the pinnacle of the Welsh food scene, with Chris Harrod walking the culinary high-wire in the kitchen, conjuring tasting menus full of clean, bright, unexpected flavours in dishes that make best use of foraged ingredients and heritage veg from the kitchen garden. Wye Valley asparagus cooked over pine…