Kinmel Arms

Lynn & Tim Watson’s seventeenth-century coaching inn has everything – a glorious location (the Elwy Valley, on the edge of the Kinmel Estate), an interior that’s grander & more genteel than most country pubs, plus a local reputation for seasonally influenced menus featuring market-fresh fish, local meats, vegetables & Snowdonia cheeses. The inn itself is divided between a traditional bar, a sunny conservatory & cosy, low-ceilinged dining rooms where the food shines. Look out for Welsh beef fillet with smoked bacon, chestnut & mushroom duxelle & Parmentier potatoes, loin of local venison teamed with a navarin of the haunch, or hake fillet with curried mussel, winter vegetable & lentil broth, followed by black cherry Bakewell with clotted cream. Bedrooms add an extra dimension to this thriving operation & no expense has been spared in kitting out the four stunning suites.