If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (GBP132.38), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Put yourself out to pasture at The Royston, a handsome guesthouse in the green heart of Wales. Each of the seven bedrooms is packed with personality – thanks to owners Clive and Rob’s dashing design sense and love of vintage furniture – and blessed with verdant valley views. Outdoorsy types can wander the waterfalls, go off-grid in the woodlands or get sporty in Snowdonia National Park – though our recommendation is to stay close to the fireplace, help yourself to tots of sloe gin from the honesty bar and linger over heavenly home-made dinners in the dining room.
Smith Extra
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A Royston cotton tote bag and a home-made foodie-approved gift
10am. Check-in is from 3pm to 7pm. You’ll need to give advance notice if you plan to arrive after 7pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £139.00, including tax at 5 per cent.
More details
Rates include breakfast – choose from the full cooked or veggie options, home-made granola with rhubarb compote or toast with local-hilltop honey.
Also
Just six months after it opened, The Sunday Times pronounced the Royston the best hotel in Wales. Llongyfarchiadau (that’s ‘congratulations’ in Welsh)!
Hotel closed
The hotel closes annually for Christmas and New Year (exact dates vary).
At the hotel
Fire-pit, kitchen garden, board games, free WiFi throughout and free parking on-site. In rooms: Meraki bath products, tea and coffee, and hypoallergenic bedding on request.
Our favourite rooms
We suggest splashing out on a Superior Room for the superlative mountain and countryside views.
Packing tips
Realistically? Windproofs. But if you’re feeling optimistic, stash a swimsuit for swimming in the waterfalls.
Also
There’s one step-free bedroom on the ground floor suitable for guests with mobility restrictions, but unfortunately the hotel is not accessible for wheelchair users.
Pet‐friendly
Welcome, with advance notice, in one of the Large Rooms or the Deluxe Room with Shower and Bath. There's a flat charge of £25 a booking and a maximum of one dog in each dog-friendly room. See more pet-friendly hotels in Powys.
Children
Ages 12 and over are welcome. An extra bed can be added to Superior Rooms for £35 a night.
Sustainability efforts
Wherever possible, the hotel uses produce from its kitchen garden, orchard or polytunnel; and eggs come from the happy hens.
For verdant views, choose a table at the back next to the windows.
Dress Code
Don a cashmere jumper and well-worn jeans. You'll fit right in.
Hotel restaurant
Breakfast and supper are served in the cheerful dining room, where soft green walls set off soothing countryside views and the emphasis is on simple, homemade fare with produce from the kitchen garden and meat from local suppliers. All food is prepared and served by the owners, Clive and Rob, and with just three tables per dining service it’s very popular and tables fill up fast, so book well ahead to avoid disappointment. Starters include cod or salmon fishcakes or homemade wild-garlic-pesto-chicken salad; hearty main-course options range from flatbread pizzas to halloumi and homemade chutney or minted lamb and feta burgers. Finish with a Welsh cheese board or an affogato for pudding. When the weather’s cooperating, you can ask for a fire pit kit (there’s a small extra charge) to watch the sun go down over a glass of something sparkling. The hotel only prepares what's needed to prevent food waste and they use the freshest ingredients, so you'll need to email your food choices at least 48 hours before arrival.
Hotel bar
The honesty bar in the lounge is stocked with the usual suspects as well as home-made sloe gin, Aperol, pre-mixed negronis, plum vodka and vermouth. For alfresco nightcaps, the fire-pit’s waiting.
Last orders
Breakfast is served from 8am to 9.30am. Choose from one of two seatings for dinner: 7.30pm or 8pm.
Room service
There’s no room service, so stash the warm cookies you get on arrival in case hunger strikes after dark.
The Royston is in the quiet Powys hills, perfectly placed for exploring the Cardigan Bay coastline and Snowdonia National Park.
Planes
The nearest airports are Manchester and Birmingham, each about a two-hour drive away; the hotel can arrange transfers for £150 each way.
Trains
The nearest stations are Machynlleth or Caersws. They’re both about 20 minutes’ drive from the hotel and serve Aberystwyth, London, Manchester, Birmingham and Shrewsbury.
Automobiles
You’ll want a car if you’re going in search of waterfalls, woodlands and other Welsh adventures. Rent one in nearby Shrewsbury (good options are Easicar and Thrifty) – from there, it’s an hour’s drive to the hotel. Once you arrive, there’s free parking on-site.
Worth getting out of bed for
Don’t go too far too fast – the Royston was designed for unwinding, so take a seat by the fireplace in the lounge with a good book or borrow one of the board games. Have a potter around the gardens and the orchard (don’t forget to say hi to the hens). When you’re ready to venture, motor to nearby Machynlleth, an arty town with a weekly farmers’ market (on Wednesdays) and a picturesque high street full of independent shops. Then, pull on your walking boots to conquer the woodland trails – the Torrent Walk is a circular path that follows the River Clywedog through a gorge. If you’re a brave soul searching for a wild-swimming spot, wander to the Waterfall Walk in Snowdonia National Park. For more manicured meanderings, explore the Italianate gardens at mediaeval fortress and National Trust gem Powis Castle. And, if you think you might get peckish while you’re out and about, just give a bit of advance notice and the hotel can pack you up a picnic.
Local restaurants
Run by a foodie couple in nearby Machynlleth, Number Twenty One is an unfussy but outstanding bistro using locally sourced ingredients and herbs from its garden. Also in Machynlleth is Sri Lankan street-food stall The Green Goat Café, which pops up every Wednesday at the food market (known as Mach Market by locals).
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this stylish guesthouse in the Powys hills and unpacked their waterproofs and wellies, a full account of their bucolic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Royston in Wales…
Welcome to the Royston, a supremely relaxing Victorian pile in Mid Wales owned by couple Clive and Rob, who left their advertising jobs in Brighton to try their hand at the hotel game. We’d say it’s working out well, judging from their meticulous attention to detail (the honesty bar is better suited to Mayfair than Machynlleth), design nous (the walls are daubed in on-trend inky hues) and the adorably personal touches (home-made cookies on arrival. Bless them). Did we mention they’re dab hands in the kitchen? Delicious dinners are supplemented with fresh ingredients from their kitchen garden and orchard. Of course, there’s plenty of wholesome Welsh adventure to be had just outside your door, but you’ll want to be back by that roaring fire by dusk, snug as a bug in the Royston.
