"This family-run country house hotel holds the promise of elegant ease from a bygone era"
- Guardian Unlimited, January 2007

A season-by-season guide to 40 top UK hotels

28th January 2007

Britain may not be able to guarantee sunshine but it does have a wealth of fabulous hotels in superb locations. The key to having a great break in the UK, say Fiona Duncan and Leonie Glass is to match your accommodation to the season.

SUMMER: Gliffaes, Powys
Would-be fly-fishermen should queue up for the three-day residential course for beginners from June 22-24 at this smart yet relaxed, traditional yet stylish, family-run hotel. You learn about tackle, flies and river craft, and practise casting on the lawn before being let loose on the beautiful Usk to try your luck with the salmon and wild brown trout.

For Your Valentine...

17th January 2007

Want to treat a loved one to a night away on February 14? Louise Tickle tips six of the most romantic retreats in the UK

5. Gliffaes Country House Hotel, Crickhowell, Powys
Keep your balcony windows open at Gliffaes and you�fll hear the river Usk tumbling in full spate down the valley. Wander down to the riverside just as dawn breaks -- you can borrow wellies at the door - and, among the overhanging branches, you might just catch the sapphire flash of a kingfisher diving for its breakfast or an otter playing along the banks.

But it�fs more likely you�fll be tucked up in the soft warmth of your six-foot bed, or soaking up to your neck in the truly vast antique bath. If, that is, you�fre lucky enough to have booked yourself into room six, which comes highly recommended.

This family-run country house hotel holds the promise of elegant ease from a bygone era, yet it�fs not ultra-swanky and no one stands on ceremony. Instead, there is kind, attentive service, along with big bedrooms, open fireplaces, restful leather sofas and polished wooden floors scattered with rugs. The tradition of afternoon tea, laid out in the drawing room for everyone to serve themselves, adds to the feeling of being entirely at home.

Five Hotels I've visited this year that I would happily return to

Reviewed Saturday 23rd December 2006

1. Driving through the gates of Susie & James Suter's Gliffaes Country House in Crickhowell we found a lovely Italianate building, with lawns, trees, exotic plants and flowers plus a stretch of the River Usk. A notice told us that" it is customary to dress for dinner" and, in their magnificent conservatory restaurant we realised that the food had been chosen to taste good, not just to impress. And at breakfast time, they made porridge specially for me.

It was here that my husband left his jacket. When he phoned to say that he would like to collect it, James said: "oh, I was going to parcel it up and send it to you tomorrow." Now, that 's what I call service.

Paddy Burt dines where 'slow food' doesn't mean waiting ages between courses.

Reviewed Saturday 24 June 2006

After receiving an effusive letter from Mr M H-J, I looked at the Gliffaes Country House Hotel website and decided that the hotel, owned and run by Susie and James Suter, really did look rather nice.

Driving through the gate, which has its own lodge, we decide that "rather nice" is an understatement. The drive is lined with rhododendrons and we find ourselves in the sort of garden for which the National Trust sells tickets. There are lawns, trees, exotic plants and flowers. There's also a stretch of the River Usk where enthusiasts can fish for salmon or wild brown trout.

The hotel is a large, mid-Victorian Italianate affair. Inside, at the foot of a baronial staircase, is the reception desk, where a smiling young woman welcomes us. The room she takes us to is very country house, with bath, shower and, unusually, a bidet. The mahogany furniture is unpretentious and homely.

A notice tells us that "it is customary to change for dinner". So my husband puts on jacket and tie and I my wrap-around Indian silk skirt. This is a hotel that makes us want to dress up.

Downstairs, we are greeted by Joshua, the charming young man in charge of the bar. As it's very hot, we walk straight through the panelled room full of squashy chairs and sofas, and on through the conservatory to the terrace, where we find ourselves a table overlooking the Usk valley.

How peaceful it is. Hundreds of swallows swoop and dive above us, while cows munch contentedly in the meadows below. "This view is the nearest thing to home I've seen since I left New Zealand," Joshua tells us.

Dipping into the bottle of wine we have ordered, we look at the menu: five choices of starters and main courses, all of which sound good. I decide on pan-fried liver with green salad, red berries and figs; my husband chooses the saute' of boudin noir, boudin blanc and goats' cheese croustillant. This hotel is a member of the Slow Food Movement, which doesn't mean we'll have to wait for ages between courses but that they buy most of their food from local suppliers.

Soon Joshua is showing us into the magnificent restaurant, and a waitress is bringing our starters. These look rather similar, but as the chef has avoided the temptation to add either liver or boudin to a standard plate of salad, they don't taste the same.

My main course of free-range corn-fed chicken stuffed with spinach, tiger prawns, tagliatelle and Provenc,al sauce is delicious and it convinces me that the food here is chosen to taste good, not just to look impressive. My husband's more than happy with his pork tenderloin.

We come down for breakfast in the dining room next morning and find a white-clothed table full of fruit, cereals and warm rolls. When I ask, they are happy to make porridge specially for me. My husband, who knows what's expected of him, orders the Full Welsh Breakfast.

When we pay the bill, Joshua is in charge. "All my favourite customers leave too soon," he says. How charming! We ask who the owners are. "We were just talking about you," he says as a young woman appears. Susie is the daughter of the original owners and she now runs the hotel with her husband, James.

"I grew up here," she says. "I absolutely love it and now my children can grow up here as well." No wonder there's such a happy family atmosphere at Gliffaes.

PS: My husband - the man who never leaves anything behind because that's my prerogative - forgets his jacket. When he telephones to say that we'll collect it on Sunday morning, he's told: "Don't worry, we'll post it to you. . ." As it happens, we were able to call in on our way home after staying in another hotel. "Oh," says James, "I was going to parcel it up today and send it to you on Monday." Now that's service.

# Gliffaes Country House Hotel, Crickhowell, Powys NP8 1RH (01874 730371, www.gliffaeshotel.com), has 22 rooms. Paddy Burt paid �’198.50 for dinner, b & b; �’27.70 for wine and coffee; Total �’226.20.

Bolt hole: Gliffaes Country House Hotel, Crickhowell

Reviewed Sunday 5th March 2006

Hospitality? Usk and you shall receive. A refined Welsh hideaway set amid glorious surroundings casts a spell on Zoe Thomas

The Hotel:
The green, green grass of home doesn't get much greener than the Brecon Beacons valley in which Gliffaes nestles. The River Usk babbles away at the front of the hotel, and Myarth Hill rises behind. With its Italianate architecture and sculpted gardens, you�fd swear you were in Tuscany. Except for the patriotic daffodils that come out in force each spring.

The welcome is warm and relaxed, the setting one of log fires, gin and tonics, and croquet on the lawn. It has been owned and run by the Brabner family for more than 50 years; its current custodians represent the third generation. James and Susie Suter took over from Susie�fs parents, who live on the grounds along with 91-year-old pioneer Jane Brabner.

Happily, the revolution of minimalism, muted tones and high-tech gadgetry that has ruined so many hotels has passed Gliffaes by, and the tasteful Farrow & Ball wallpapers and Laura Ashley fabrics used in the recent redecoration fall just the right side of chintzy. So the place feels unpretentious, but in a reassuringly plush way.

What about the rooms?
No two of the 22 are alike. If you can, book a room overlooking the Usk, although the grounds are pretty magnificent, too. No 2�fs vantage point over the river is breathtaking, and its glass double doors open onto a balcony overhung with wisteria. There�fs a gorgeous four-poster in No 17, and No 3 is lined with oak panelling. With the exception of No 6, which has a glamorous roll-top bath, bathrooms are homely rather than extravagant, albeit complete with Gilchrist and Soames smellies.

And the food?
Dinner is a serious business. The head chef, Stephan Trinci, follows a disarmingly simple philosophy: he serves good local food, cooked well. A member of the Slow Food movement, Gliffaes aims to source 65% of its fresh produce from within 50 miles of the hotel. My char-grilled Hereford rib-eye steak was succulence incarnate, and the pudding was spectacular. Breakfast runs the full gamut of heart-stoppers, as well as laver bread, for those seeking the complete Welsh experience.

I need some exercise:
The fishing season began this week and runs until October 17. The hotel owns the angling rights on 2 miles of the River Usk, famous for its wild brown trout as well as salmon and sea trout. Novices are welcome. For walkers who tire of the hotel�fs gorgeous mature gardens, James will plan routes in the surrounding Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains. You can yomp for a couple of hours to work up an appetite for the hotel�fs famous tea, or take on an orienteering course. Riding, boating on Llangorse Lake, mountain-biking, potholing, hang-gliding and countless other exhausting pursuits take place locally as well. Or head for Susie�fs well-stocked library of glossy magazines and mooch around the hotel with Vogue, Tatler or Trout and Salmon.

Good for:
Those in need of a full-on countryside fix, with added glamour.

Bad for:
Techno-junkies with a fresh-air phobia.

Country House Treat

Written by Polly Chiapetta. Copied from Country Life - May 2004

GLIFFAES is a delight. Go somewhere else if you want to be surrounded by tones of beige and matt black and be packed in thermal mud while you listen to tapes of temple bells; but if you want to fly-fish, go for walks in the Brecon Beacons, eat breakfasts that would challenge a rugby team and wake up to the matchless panorama of the Welsh mountains, then go to Gliffaes.

This Victorian house, which has been a hotel since the 1930s, is wedged against a slope overlooking the River Usk, with wild and woolly hills sweeping to the south. There is something of Tuscany about the house, with its terraced grounds and tower. From the inside, every window offers a handsome view (gasp-making, some of them). But it is the river that affords the hotel's raisons d'e^tre salmon and wild brown trout; in the season, many rooms are likely to be snaffled by the ardent fishermen who have rumbled that if their families are cared for in a manner to which they would very much like to become accustomed, their own time spent in pursuit of fish is more likely to be smiled upon.

The hotel's large lawns are ideal for children and dogs to romp on, and paths lead down through the levels to the garden to low-gradient walks beside the river. Any guests who are bored have only themselves to blame croquet lawns, putting greens shelves of reading material and snooker tables are provided to while away time between delicious meals, and then is a tennis court for those who like that sort of thing.

The style of the interior:
could best be described as unreconstructed country-house comfortable. Think arm chairs; think wood-panelled drawing rooms; crackling fires and Sunday papers Each of the bedrooms many, of them recently refurbished is differently decorated with a mixture of antique and modern pieces, and varying from opulent doubles, with balcony and river view, to small doubles, which perhaps best function as singles.

All the boxes for country-house hotel luxury have been ticked: a room with ; four-poster (tick); fluffy towels (tick); Gilchrist & Soames bath products (tick). But it is the, boxes that the hotel itself has created that make it stand out: unforced friendliness, locally sourced ingredients, the restaurant's imaginative food and an unhurried atmosphere. They are as happy for you to sit in the conservatory drinking coffee and reading as for you to go on one of their regular photography or fly-fishing course.

Gourmet Boltholes

Written by Melanie Leyshon, April 2007

There's always a welcome in the hillside at Gliffaes - an impressive Italianate mid-Victorian pile turned country house. It's just a short drive from the imposing Brecon Beacons, and challenging ten-kilometre walks are just the thing to build up an appetite. And there's plenty to feast on from head chef Stephan Trinci's Welsh larder of a menu. As you'd expect of a hotel in a foodie hotspot - Abergavenny is a short drive away and you can step out of bed to go trout or salmon fishing on the river Usk - there is no shortage of prime local produce. As a member of the Slow Food movement, the Hotel ensures that three quarters of its ingredients are grown or reared within an 80-kilometre radius.

Dining is a smart affair, with guests requested to change for dinner, but the dress code is more relaxed country than glitzy. Owners Susie and James Suter (she grew up here) create a friendly, unstuffy atmosphere. It's like staying at a posh friend's very large country house. No two rooms are the same, and they're elegant but not overly grand. The lounge is large but cosy enough for you to unwind pre-dinner on a comfy sofa with an ape'ritif by the roaring fire, without being disturbed by other guests - discreet is another byword here.

Stephan Trinci lets the excellent ingredients on his menu do the talking; his flair for cooking and combinations appears effortless. A choice of six starters includes a warm salad combination of wood pigeon, figs and fennel or an earthy yet fragrant cream of roasted turnip and rosemary soup. Among the magnificent main course meat dishes are chargrilled Welsh black fillet with horseradish potato pancake and a wild mushroom sauce, and rack of Welsh lamb with rosemary mash and redcurrant jus. A gooey chocolate nemesis is as indulgent as their come and the selection of Welsh Cheeses is top-notch. And if no other reason, it's well worth doing some walking and fishing to burn up those extra calories and create some room for the legendary help-yourself Gliffaes afternoon teas.

Sue Webster, 18th January 2004

The Brabner family is the driving force behind this country house gem, a cosy yet grand Victorian mansion. They are staunch supporters of the Slow Food Movement and 75 per cent of the menu is made with locally grown produce, such as Welsh Black Beef. Follow this up with hot raspberry souffle' or pop in for one of their 'amazing' afternoon teas, a �’7 help-yourself, fireside affair of home-made cakes and scones.

Saturday 9th February 2002

Even viewed through a raging storm, the Gliffaes' meandering driveway exudes an effortless air of class. James and Susie Suter have run this country house hotel near Abergavenny for four years; improving and updating where necessary but largely letting the stunning location, gardens and house speak for themselves. One of the Gliffaes' main attractions is two miles of trout and salmon fishing on the nearby River Usk, so game unsurprisingly features highly on the menu. The pressing of guinea fowl and foie gras hit the spot while the roquette soup possessed a keen peppery finish.

What with it being Burn's Night, head chef Iain Sampson's loin of Welsh pork and haggis was a solid option to keep the winter chills at bay. Extra bite came via a subtle Glayva sauce. The pan-fried fillet of sea bass would have stretched to about three portions in establishments with fewer scruples than this. It came on a bed of lemon risotto topped with wilted spinach and surrounded by a cream of vegetables, mussels and saffron. The air of solid traditionalism was maintained for coffee, fudge and port around the drawing room's open fire; frankly the only way to end a most civilized evening.