Wilton Court Hotel, Herefordshire's finest

It was a great pleasure to spend last weekend at the Wilton Court Hotel in Ross-On-Wye, a beautiful part of Herefordshire near the Welsh border. This hotel is splendid value-for-money and serves the finest organic food from this quintessentially English rural county.

My friends and I decided to return again for our annual reunion, having found the hotel last year. For less than $150 per person a night we enjoyed breakfast and a three-course gourmet dinner, and comfortable ensuite accommodation.

Charming hotel

The hotel is about 500 years old and full of antique charm, and tastefully furnished to a very high standard. The owners must have spent some time in the Far East, judging from the chinoiserie and standards of service.

For our purposes the traditional bar with fireplace and real ales made a good venue for pre and post dinner drinks. But the best experience came in the dining room.

By carefully selecting the finest suppliers from the county of Herefordshire there is a range of flavors in this cooking that would be hard to match in rural France. The beef is from the herds you see around you, and the vegetables from the rich brown soil of this county.

Venison is from a deer farm over the border in Wales, and so it goes on with a magnificent cheese board from local dairies. You do wonder how they could possible do this three-course gourmet dinner for around $30 a head, and wine is equally well chosen and reasonable in price.

Big suites

Ten ensuite bedrooms all over look the river or gardens and have WiFi Internet access, and there are a couple of large suites as well as one with a four-poster bed. But remember not to miss the delicious full-cooked English breakfast, again with the finest local ingredients.

Wonder into Ross-On-Wye and you will find bookshops and antique shops to thrill any enthusiast, or to build up a hearty appetite then go for a long country walk, perhaps to Symonds Yat to see the bends in the River Wye from a high vantage point.

It was just a shame to see this hotel half-empty on a Friday night but it was full on Saturday. Recession or not this is great place to stay, and worth a car trip across England for the experience.