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Baskerville Hall Hotel, Clyro Court, Hay on Wye, Powys, Wales HR3 5LE

Baskerville Hall Hotel, Clyro Court, Hay on Wye, Powys, Wales HR3 5LE

Clyro Court, Hay on Wye, Powys, Wales HR3 5LE

01497820033

'Dr Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered:

'Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!'

As you take your seat in the baronial dining room of the Baskerville Hall Hotel it is not hard to see where Conan Doyle got his inspiration for 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' from. The huge windows give a fine view of lowering forest-covered cloud capped hills. The magnificent ceiling is dominated by a huge chandelier. You approach the hotel through an avenue of overhanging trees and the entrance hall is dominated by a huge double staircase. Exactly as Baskerville Hall is described in the book. The coat of arms over the door is a wolf's head.

The story goes that Conan Doyle was friendly with the Baskervilles, who used to live here, and was a frequent guest. The adventure of the hound was a mixture of local legend and his own imagination. However, not wanting their family home to attract too much tourist attention the Baskervilles asked him to set the story somewhere else - and he chose Dartmoor. Various Dartmoor houses lay claim to being the inspiration for Baskerville Hall but I think this must definitely be the place.

As this is a restaurant site I checked that the dining room is open to none residents and the consensus was that it is, but you need to phone up first. As I mentioned above the place is worth visiting for the atmosphere alone but the food is pretty good too. It is not cordon bleu but it does not pretend to be and the prices are very reasonable for what you get. I had a fine, quite tangy tomato soup to start and then chicken supreme with accompanying vegetables. The portions were large and they were well put together. She had the soup as well and followed it with moules and they were fine too. Other starters include goats cheese salad and prawn and bacon salad and average at about £4.50. Mains include Black Mountain beef, Hereford pork, salmon fillet and haddock and come in at about £10. Service is charmingly eccentric - we were asked if we wanted dessert before we had had our mains - but suits the feel of the place, which is very laid back and friendly, in contrast to its gothic atmosphere.

After dinner you could relax with a drink in the bar, or maybe go out for a walk on the terrace - where it's easy to let your imagination run away with you. What was that noise? Only the wind...