Between the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons, four miles northeast of Brecon beside, The Felin Fach Griffin is a truly fine example of a pub with rooms, doing both excellently. The ochre-painted exterior makes it stand out from first glance, whilst inside, the warm welcome and calm ambience ensure everyone who enters the door feels instantly at home, wanting to return again. Brothers Charles and Edmund Inkin have been running this dining pub with rooms since 2000, creating something that feels simultaneously historic and utterly contemporary.

Eight bedrooms upstairs feature Vispring beds, delivering the kind of sleep that makes it hard to leave, Roberts radios for those who appreciate proper technology, Welsh woollen blankets, and dog-friendly policies throughout. Some rooms have four-posters, all accommodate children, and the deliberate absence of televisions proves refreshingly uncontroversial. Downstairs, squashy leather sofas gather around a raised log fire radiating heat into both the bar and dining room, where tongue-and-groove panelling appears in brilliant blue and bookshelves hold Debrett and Who’s Who alongside regular reading material.

The food justifies six consecutive Dining Pub of the Year awards for Wales and continued Michelin Guide recognition. Head chef Gwenann Davies sources from the organic kitchen garden managed by Alfie Dan’s Market Garden, supplementing with exceptional local producers within fifteen miles. The menu doesn’t attempt reinvention, think cod with fondant potatoes and beurre blanc, venison haunch, Welsh lamb with grilled vegetables. This is a place that executes classic combinations with technical precision that separates good gastropubs from genuinely special ones.

There are four dining areas including a dog-friendly section by the bar, though locals fill tables regularly enough that booking remains sensible. Breakfast brings home-baked soda bread you toast yourself, eggs from the Griffin’s hens, and proper bacon. The wine list offers personality alongside knowledge, with numerous quality options by the glass. Sister inns The Old Coastguard in Mousehole and The Gurnard’s Head near St Ives complete the EATDRINKSLEEP collection, both also found on Hidden UK Gems. We won’t pick a favourite, but you seriously need to check out Felin Fach Griffin.