To call Neuadd Lwyd a B&B is a bit like calling Jimmy Choo a cobbler. Almost from the minute we swung into the drive I could feel in my bones it was going to be a winner. This handsome rectory, just across the Menai Strait, has an ancient church in its backyard and pastureland in its front, but this isn't why the term B&B doesn't do it justice.
A warm welcome from owner Susannah Woods, and it's straight upstairs to what I can only describe as a sumptuous bedroom. Further nosing around reveals the other two bedrooms are equally divine. Decor confidently mixes toile de Jouy with gingham checks, silk beaded throws and soft wool blankets, antique mirrors with new thick carpets, flat screen TVs and a DVD selection. Then there are the bathrooms - pastel slipper baths, walk-in showers, painted wood floors, shutters, and Molton Brown (the complete works, not a couple of squitty soaps). I could just move in here now
Guest house might be more accurate than B&B, but it has become such an outdated term that I fear it will only make everyone think of boiled beef and cabbage. What's going on downstairs is a million miles from such travesties. For one thing we have the run of a not inconsiderable sitting room, complete with blazing fire, big sofas and darkening views of fields and Snowdonia beyond.
There's a choice of pre-dinner drinks - brought to us by Susannah's oenophile husband Peter who's putting together his own wine list. Dinner itself is served at a beautifully laid table - cheese soufflé with lamb's lettuce and beetroot chips, poached seabass fillet with buttered mash, sprouting broccoli and saffron sauce, and a tarte tatin with spelt pastry so good we wish we could buy some to take home.
Breakfast is an equally flavoursome event - fruit compote, lava bread, delicious eggs, local cured and smoked bacon and homemade bread.
The best description I can come up with is a country house restaurant with rooms - but that's not very snappy. So let's just say this is in a class of its own.
· One night's dinner, bed and breakfast for two at Neuadd Lwyd (01248 715005, neuaddlwyd.co.uk) costs £190 or £250 for two nights. Menus are tailored to guests' requirements at time of booking. Exclusive use/private parties can be arranged for up to eight.
