Royal treatment at Queen Victoria's favourite country house
"The cheese course served on Welsh slate is so extensive it has its own menu"
Near the small historic Welsh town of Machynlleth and in the lea of the Cambrian Mountains stands Queen Victoria’s favourite country house, Ynyshir Hall.
This beautiful mansion, now an award-winning country house hotel, is surrounded by fourteen acres of rolling lawns and gardens kept much the same as in Her Majesty’s day. Ironically, however, the old 1,000-acre royal shooting estate is now a stunning RSPB nature reserve.
Today’s Ynyshir Hall has a new queen. Joan Reen has managed the hotel for twenty years and, with her staff, she has created a genuine and welcoming home-from-home environment. Testament to this are the many guests who return again and again for the Zen-like ordered calm in both house and gardens.
Ynyshir Hall’s nine luxury rooms are individually designed. They are all extremely comfortable without pretension.
Many of the bedrooms and public areas, notably the dining room, display the brilliant paintings of Joan’s husband, the acclaimed artist Rob Reen. If you’re a pooch lover, by the way, and simply have to bring the little darling, the hotel has “dog-friendly” rooms with direct access to the garden.
The restaurant justly boasts one of the few Michelin stars in Wales. The Chef has designed a constantly changing imaginative menu created using mainly local produce: fish from Cardigan Bay, vegetables from the hotel’s own kitchen garden, game from a nearby estate and organic Welsh lamb and pork from the village butcher.
On our first night we were treated to the eight-course tour de force “tasting” menu including pigeon and foie gras, lemon sole and langoustine. The cheese course served on Welsh slate is so extensive it has its own menu.
Our gastro feast culminated in a perfect vanilla soufflé with passion fruit sauce. Oh, and Sunday lunch is to die for. We had exquisite pea soup followed by beautifully prepared mallard duck. Dessert was a decadent hot chocolate pudding and pumpkin ice cream. The Ynyshir Hall kitchen must surely be on its way to that second star
Local walks (and after all that food you’ll need them) are the most scenic in Wales. Check with Joan for maps but for an amazing view of the mountains and surrounding countryside take the ArtistValley track from the village of Furnace just outside the main hotel gates.
Local resident, rock star Robert Plant, was so inspired by the beauty of this valley that he penned the classic Led Zeppelin hit ‘Stairway To Heaven’.
The sandy acres of Ynyslas beach at the River Dovey estuary are a not-to-be-missed experience in any weather! We fought wind and rain the day we visited which only made the experience more dramatic.
This was one weekend break we just didn’t want to end. My partner and I have now joined the long list of satisfied guests who have been seduced by the Ynyshir Hall magic.
I’m willing to bet that Queen Victoria would not only be highly amused but also delighted that her legacy is alive and well and still giving such pleasure to all who experience its charms.
