Dusk had passed and the thick hillside fog had immersed the rural road as we travelled up and over the Berwyn range. A real pea-souper, just like a Pinewood set. Then as we descended, our headlights picked up the entrance sign to Palé Estate. At the end of a gravel drive interspersed with spot-lit topiary, the welcoming sight of a Victorian pile in honey-coloured stone honed into view.
History
The present Palé Hall has its origins tracing back to a modest 15th–16th-century dwelling in 1662, rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1800 and ultimately sold in the 1860s before Henry Robertson – railway engineer, industrialist and later MP – commissioned the elegant Jacobean-style mansion standing today. Robertson’s career in Welsh and Midlands railway development, his founding role in major industrial concerns including Brymbo Steel Works, and his commitments as magistrate, MP and country gentleman shaped both the estate and the region, while his family continued his legacy through public service, industry and philanthropy. During the First World War, Palé Hall was transformed into an auxiliary hospital caring for 38 wounded soldiers, its staff with the Robertson family contributing wholeheartedly to the war effort; in the Second World War it again opened its doors, this time providing sanctuary for evacuated children, who experienced at Palé the peace, safety and freedom so far removed from the dangers of the cities.
The hotel
Today, this 5-star hotel is very much my idea of the idyllic country-house escape: a picture-perfect setting where it’s easy to slide into the character of someone like Bertie Wooster or Lord Peter Wimsey. Visualise in your mind a setting for a Downton alternative and Palé Hall is that image brought to life: a wood-panelled main lounge overseen by a mezzanine gallery below a stained-glass skylight, flaming logs crackling away within large ornately-carved fireplaces, heavy drapes framing deep stone mullioned windows looking out over beautiful grounds, the creaking of wooden floors underfoot, the gentle aroma of wood smoke and the subtle soundtrack of jazz (until the evening, when a live harpist further adds to the atmosphere).
Absolutely packed with character, it’s a far cry from soulless, modern, purpose-built hotels where they seem to mistakenly think that style is measured in immaculate bling rather than genuine heritage and patina.
Palé Hall is the kind of place where your room key is not a plastic card but vintage steel, where the wardrobe in your bedroom is a beautiful, heavy antique and where you’ll discover interesting objets d’art everywhere. In fact, owners Anthony and Donna Cooper-Barney, who took over the hotel in 2024, have made Palé Hall something of a destination for artistic creativity and a place where art is an ever-changing showcase throughout. There is a sculpture trail amidst the tranquil woodland and burbling streams of the 50-acre grounds where neighbouring fields with cattle and sheep make a perfect scene against the backdrop of the Snowdonian hills.
Absolutely packed with character, it’s a far cry from soulless, modern, purpose-built hotels where they seem to mistakenly think that style is measured in immaculate bling rather than genuine heritage and patina.
Immersive experiences
Yes, those with a creative bent may find inspiration aplenty here. There is even a hands-on pottery and art studio with Jo Anna Duncalf as the ceramicist in residence, while other guest experiences include fly-fishing on the River Dee, clay-pigeon shooting, garden tours, nature walks and sessions in the newly opened fitness studio and treatment rooms.
Jo Anna Duncalf – ceramicist in residence
But Palé Hall is also set to make something of a destination location for fine dining too. Head chef Ed Marsh brings his gastronomic creativity and 16 years’ experience to the kitchens, having joined from his previous role at the Michelin-starred Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe. Ed has also captained the English National Culinary Team and accolades include South West Chef of the Year.
Ed has also captained the English National Culinary Team and accolades include South West Chef of the Year. Photo: ©Jodi Hinds
We were lucky enough to sample the six-course tasting menu that he has introduced here, served in the suitable splendour of the hotel’s Henry Robertson dining room. Beautifully presented cuisine that nods heavily towards Welsh legacy, each dish provides waves of contrasting palate experiences. From a sourdough with 25-year-old starter heritage and accompanying beurre noisette scattered with foraged petals, through to rich, red cuts of mouth-melting fallow deer with plummy beetroot and wholesome roasted Treviso, all expertly created and cleverly executed. Courses included mackerel, a sharp Perl Las with the crunch of walnut and a subtle halibut with the salty pop of pike roe. But perhaps a favourite surprise was a taste journey from a tangy sour sorrel to a velvety crème fraîche all in one delightful mouthful. With the hotel’s newly refurbished subterranean cellar, the wine list, as you can imagine, is vast and clearly expertly curated. Ed has also recently established ‘The Hearth’, a new private dining room for an even more exclusive culinary experience.
The Huntsman Bar, where mounted stag heads look down on guests from the tall walls or the whisky and cigar lounge both provide places in which to take a post-dinner digestif and just add perfectly to Palé Hall’s country-house ambience. This is aided by staff, all of whom seemed to possess that rare quality of professionalism combined with an unforced, natural, chatty friendliness and for whom nothing was ever too much trouble.
And if a trip to a Welsh pub appeals as a brief intermission from the country squire lifestyle, the Cooper-Barneys run the local too. The Bryntirion Inn, just down the lane, offers gastropub food (we highly recommend the potato gnocchi with pumpkin and a Welsh cheese and pine-nut pesto). And if you wonder why its walls are decorated with motoring memorabilia, it’s because this area of Wales is renowned driving country and regularly hosts car-club events. In fact, Anthony and Donna are petrolheads themselves and the hotel-branded Bentley saloon regularly runs guests back from the pub.
So perhaps it was ironic that we made our journey to Wales in an electric car. And thanks to the thunderous clean, natural energy of Snowdonia waterfalls via a hydro-electric generator above Palé Hall, electricity at the hotel is virtually free. Fully recharged, in both the vehicular and spiritual sense, we were able to power our journey home to Surrey on the purest Welsh water and hospitality.
Palé Hall, Palé Estate, Llandderfel, Bala, Gwynedd, LL23 7PS
Tel: 01678 530 285
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