Michelin and Condé Nast Traveller recognition for north Wales hotel

A luxury country house hotel on the edge of Eryri is celebrating a notable double, after being recognised by Michelin as a “special place to stay”.

Palé Hall at Llandderfel, near Bala is one of the first hotels in the UK to receive a Michelin Key Award. Similar to Michelin stars, the keys are a three-tiered award designed to highlight the best places to stay across the globe.

Hotels can be rated as one key, a special place to stay, two keys, an exceptional stay or three keys, an extraordinary stay. Palé Hall, Wales’ only 5 Red Star Hotel, with a Green Michelin Star and 3 AA Fine Dining restaurant, receives one Michelin Key.

The award comes hot on the heels of the hotel being recognised in the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards.

Palé Hall has been ranked 18^th Best UK Hotel out of 35 – outside of London – in the awards, which are voted for by readers to recognise the best hotels and resorts in Europe.

One of only two hotels in Wales ranked on the Condé Nast Traveller 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards list, Palé Hall scored 97.01% in levels of satisfaction.

Double win

Palé Hall’s Managing Director Calum Milne said: “We are of course delighted for our double win. Not only has Palé Hall been ranked highly by readers of Condé Nast Traveller, but we are delighted to have been awarded one of the first prestigious Michelin Keys.

“It’s a fantastic result and motivates us to continue to delight our guests and offer an exemplary stay in beautiful North Wales.”

A member of Relais & Châteaux, Pride of Britain Hotels and Celebrated Experiences, Palé Hall is independently owned by Anthony and Donna Cooper-Barney, who took over the hotel earlier this year.

They have ambitious plans to add a spa, second restaurant and potentially expand the number of bedrooms. In addition, they have also invested £200,000 in creating a gallery of exquisite Welsh art.

Green credentials

Palé Hall features 18 individually styled bedrooms plus four garden suites which opened in 2021 – two with hot tubs – plus there’s a 3 AA Rosette fine dining restaurant. Guests can dine in a grand setting overlooking the hotel’s 50-acre estate and rolling green hills in the distance.

Dog-friendly, it’s one of the greenest hotels in the UK, with a Green Michelin Star since 2021 for its commitment to sustainable practices, which include having its own clean, completely carbon-neutral source of electricity.

The hotel has a fascinating history and past guests include Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill – both have suites named after them.

Guests can enjoy many surrounding walking routes and explore villages such as Portmeirion and Betws-y-Coed, nestled amongst deeply wooded valleys, with river walks and spectacular waterfalls.

Nearby is Wales’ highest point at Yr Wyddfa, plus historic steam railways and canals and the Slate Trail, which recently became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.