Neuadd Arms Hotel - Llanwrtyd Wells, United Kingdom 

I like to write reviews of all the hotels I visit. Usually, I have something I desperately want to say. This is not the case with the Neuadd Arms Hotel. The staff were nice, vaguely helpful. Nothing to comment on positively or negatively. They weren't always easy to get a hold of, but that's to be expected at a family-run local inn. There were clearly a lot of locals at the bar and very few women, few enough to make me leary of going down by myself to enjoy a beer. To be clear, I never felt threatened and everyone was sweet, just very drunk and mostly male. Also, dinner closed down at 8:30 and I arrived around 8:15. The room was fine, a little musty and the bathroom didn't have a shower but was basically clean. The lino on the floor left something to be desired in that it appeared to cover some random dents in the floor and I worried a bit about the bathmat but in all, the room was basic and clean. Nothing fancy, nothing all that interesting. Breakfast followed the theme. Usual UK breakfast fare. Cereal, juice, coffee/tea, then the hot breakfast options - toast, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage, bacon, beans. Good, basic food, not badly prepared. It's not a bad hotel, but not a good one either. I wished I'd stayed across the street where the restaurant seemed more interesting, but it probably would have closed at 8:30 as well. At least there's a grocery store in the middle of town that stays open relatively late.

We stayed for four nights at the Neuadd Arms and were very comfortable. We had huge breakfasts and loved the real wood fires in the two bars presided over by two gentle dogs. The beers, including those brewed on site by the landlord, were excellent . On Saturday, as part of the Saturnalia, we watched the first Annual Chariot Race Round The Lake. The chariots, which were locally made from oil drums, had one passenger each and were pulled by two mountain bikes) Eleven teams took part. There were other biking and walking events that weekend. Later there was live music and a convincing menu in Latin which was served by "Roman" staff. In fact the landlady was busy finding extra sheets for people who wanted to dress up. They have the bog snorkelling championship later in the year.