The Pitmans' small hotel, a seventeenth-century farmhouse on a hill peering down into the Conwy valley, combines country tranquillity with modern elegance. Coffee and cream décor is easy on the eye, as is the dining room's subtle lighting and bamboo floor. The highly personal design style is mirrored in the way the place is run, with calm efficiency and a minimum of standing on ceremony.

Janet Pitman offers five dinner menus a week, changing every day for the benefit of residents but limiting the options to a pair of alternatives at each of the three courses, so as to keep things manageable. Results can be stupendous, with the best dishes achieving a balance of natural flavours, textures and seasonings that continues to impress. Start with local grey mullet exotically dressed in mint, coriander, tomato and roast cumin seeds, or maybe with seared pigeon breast teamed with its own boudin, griddled leeks, pancetta and Cumberland sauce. Main-course options might involve choosing between turbot and wild-boar, the former in the company of smoked salmon and spring cabbage, the latter sauced with cider and thyme and joined by caramelised apple and onions and sweet potato puree. Welsh cheeses add a third choice to the desserts, themselves sorely tempting in a hazelnut meringue with framboise cream sort of way.

A treasure trove of international wines adds lustre to the occasion, with many imaginative selections including Torino Torrontes from Argentina, Janodet's benchmark Moulin-a-Vent and Italian varietals from Californian pioneer Seghesio. The base price is £19