The Angel at Abergavenny

Abergavenny, the so-called 'Gateway to Wales' – is making a real name for itself as a foodie town and activity base, with its annual food festival and a backdrop of the Brecon Beacons. The Angel Hotel is a long-established former coaching inn, dating from 1829, and in its current incarnation as a contemporary, boutique inn makes for a terrific place to stay in this historic and very lively market town.

A sleek makeover has retained the Georgian facade and vintage ambience but added 31 beautifully designed rooms that offer a chic twist on the coaching-inn style. Decor is cool and calming, and all rooms feature designer fabrics, Villeroy & Boch or Fired Earth bathrooms, silky bed linen, and extra fluffy towels. The rooms come in various sizes – Executive, Superior and Deluxe – and with a range of beds, doubles, twins and kings,  and the outlook varies depending on where you are in the old building. The best room is the super-spacious suite on the second floor, with a bay window overlooking town, and there are also two Mews rooms set apart from the hotel in the old stables buildings. Breakfast is a real high point, from French toast to smoked haddock, and the bread and pastries are from their own, excellent Angel Bakery.

The food in fact might have brought you here in the first place, given Abergavenny's rising reputation – the sister property to the hotel is Shaun Hill's renowned Michelin-starred The Walnut Tree, which gives you an idea of the Angel's pedigree (for some rooms the hotel offers complimentary taxis out to the Walnut Tree). Locals come to drink in the hotel's Foxhunter Bar, while the Oak Room restaurant is the place for up-to-the-minute Welsh dining using locally sourced ingredients from farm and coast. Their simple, seasonal menu is filled with the finest Welsh produce, from Truffled Llanarth Estate pheasant and Cefn Mawr Farm sirloin to Cep and Welsh black truffle tagliatelle. The shared seafood platter is a dining showstopper for hungry guests, constituting a towering feast of smoked salmon, mussels, whole prawns, crab meat, scallops, oysters and more, accompanied by fresh Angel Bakery bread.

You get the picture – you're going to be extremely well looked after from breakfast through to dinner, and thoroughly rested for another day in one of Wales' more exciting destinations. There's canal boating, kayaking, cycling and walking close by, and with Cardiff only 45 minutes away by car or train, the Angel makes a superb weekend away or a good base for city day-trips. And if you prefer to self-cater, its worth know that the Angel has some delightful holiday cottages too, both in town and out near the Walnut Tree Inn.