Hotel Snapshot
The first thing to know if you’re considering a stay at Palé Hall is that if you come here you are going to eat exceptionally well. The tasting menus at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant have been lavished with awards: three AA Rosettes (whatever that means) and, more impressively, Wales’s first green Michelin star for services to sustainable gastronomy. More on which later.
It’s surprisingly easy to reach this serene spot in the base of the Dee valley. A speedy two-hour train from London Euston will get you to Chester, where the hotel will pick you up in a branded Bentley (ding dong) for the scenic hour’s drive through Snowdonia National Park to Palé Hall. It’s an imposing Victorian mansion, and former guests include Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill. But the welcome is warm once you swing through those big wooden doors; crackling fires, the serenading notes of a live harpist, and a friendly, efficient team conducted by longstanding GM Debbie Cappadona.
The Rooms
There’s a lot to love about the rooms here. Most have statement wallpaper, heavy curtains, free-standing tubs, and lovely huge beds, so high they necessitate foot stools to mount them. It’s enough to make you feel as if you’re staying in the house of a country pile-dwelling Welsh aunt, who happens to stock her bathrooms with Penhaligon’s and will whizz up a glass of champagne to your room at any hour of the day.
I am going to be brutally honest here and tell you that some of the rooms need a little attention (and they’re going to get it, courtesy of owners Anthony and Donna Cooper-Barney, who purchased the estate in 2024). There were some signs of wear and tear in our room, Dolbarden, that broke the five-star spell. Some of the shortcomings are forgivably charming, others have the potential to irritate.
Food & Drink
As mentioned, the food at Palé Hall is spectacular and reason enough to plan a visit.
The restaurant is a grand white tableclothed affair lit by crystal chandeliers and vast windows, with enough delightful staff and modern artworks to save it from any suggestion of stuffiness. In truth, the setting is rendered insignificant by the food, specifically the four- or six-course tasting menus at dinner.
Expect the kind of umami flavour bombs you’d want on a death row tasting menu. Our dinner kicked off with a black bomber cheddar and pickled walnut gougere and smoked cod roe tartlet with crisp shards of apple. Things moved on with silky mackerel in a plum broth and the aniseed hit of perilla leaf, blue perl las cheese encased in a glistening beetroot ‘bomb’, and freshest halibut with tiny Welsh leeks. All was triumphant.
Taking it to the next level, sommelier Manuel Ribeiro offers a wine pairing unexpected and effective enough to make you believe he is some kind of eccentric genius. With the aforementioned mackerel, for example, he serves vine-aged Alsace. With the pearl las dish, a dark rosé from Virginia—the saccharine strawberry kind you’d usually avoid like the plague. But tasted with the beetroot and blue cheese, it is utterly transformed.
As well as tasting menus, there are more relaxed bistro dishes (although these can be hard to come by at weekends), elegant afternoon tea and perfect hotel breakfast. This jewel in the hotel’s crown is being extended, with plans to add an orangery-style extension and terrace soon.
Amenities
There’s no spa to speak of, but a gym, treatment rooms and yoga and meditation facilities are all in the works. In the meantime, there’s plenty to keep you going: fishing, shooting and other outdoor adventures, or pottery classes for the more indoors-inclined. The nearby walking routes are a highlight, whether you’re gunning for Mount Snowdon or ambling around Palé Hall’s fairytale grounds, which are studded with animal sculptures.
Location & Neighbourhood Recs
Snowdon is an hour’s drive away, while the lakeside town of Bala can be reached in 10 minutes. One of the best local attractions is a five-minute walk away: The Bryntirion Inn pub, which is part of the Palé Hall estate. You can tell this from the quality of the hearty, indulgent pub food and on-point service. To keep it feeling like a proper pub, there’s Welsh ale and Wrexham lager on tap and, if you’re lucky, a familiar face from Palé Hall singing and playing guitar live. Soul-stirring stuff.
Fast Facts
Location: North Wales, the edge of Snowdonia National Park
Address: Palé Hall, Llandderfel, Bala, Gwynedd, LL23 7PS
The vibe: Indulgent Victorian country house with classic rooms and an exceptional restaurant
Room Count: 22 rooms and suites
Starting Rate: From about $340 per night
Dining: Green Michelin star-winning tasting menus and memorable wine pairings
Amenities: Tea and coffee, welly boots for stomping around the grounds
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Amenities
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