Nanteos Mansion, Aberystwyth

It’s usually wild and windy where the Cambrian mountains collapse into the rugged coast around Aberystwyth, and on the weekend I visit it’s also very wet. If you’ve seen any episodes of the recent noir TV series Hinterland you’ll know what I mean. This is a place to murder people or to be a sheep. It’s all the lovelier, then, to arrive at Nanteos, a stately, 14-room hotel located down a tree-lined lane at the end of an un-numbered back road just outside the university town. While I’ve no doubt the building, backing on to woodlands, could be used for a crime drama, the staff give us a warm welcome and the high ceilings and big windows flood the staircases with natural light. The Grade I-listed Georgian manor house and adjoining estate belonged to the Powell family from 1738 till 1951, but the second world war killed off the last heir and the house was sold on and left to moulder. It reopened as a country hotel in May 2012, and the quality of the £5m refurb is evident wherever you wander.