Stay in Hay? No way.

Doing exactly what it says on the tin, “Town of Books” Hay-on-Wye in Powys is world renowned for its many and magnificent bookshops.

It’s the National Book Town of Wales, the site of the annual Hay Festival, and a destination for every self-confessed bibliophile and bookworm in Britain.

Its “author”, creator and original Pied Piper was Richard Booth, who opened his first bookshop here in 1962, and whose name is now as synonymous with books as Sir Henry Wood’s is to The Proms.

The first Hay Literary Festival was staged in 1988 and in 2001 Bill Clinton, no less, described it as “The Woodstock of the Mind”.

So there’s no better place in Britain to go for a good read. No nicer experience than tea and sticky buns in a café having visited the first baker’s dozen of bookshops, before heading out to explore the rest. And nothing more thrilling than browsing the shelves for that book, on that subject which you never realised was the very thing you wanted to buy more than anything else in the world at that moment.

Let’s be honest and open, here, my right of passage to Powys has become a ritual, an addiction, and a pilgrimage. I need my fix, at least once a year.

The only thing I’d failed to find previously was the perfect place to stay. I’ve tried. And I’m more than willing to be persuaded there is somewhere not too big, not too small, but “just right” tucked-away down one of the many pretty backstreets of Hay-on-Wye. But for as long as that great find remains as elusive as it now is, I’ve found a perfect way to stay. But it’s not in Hay. It's a ten minutes drive away.

Opened in 2015 as Foyles of Glasbury it once was a historic village inn, when it was known as the Maeswllch Arms.

Having fallen from grace after a succession of ownerships and in need of much love and attention, the current owners purchased the property in 2011 with the vision of restoring and modernising it, and breathing new life into it. And what a fabulous job they made of that…

The main part of the building is Grade II listed, so the renovation needed to be sympathetic in maintaining the historic element while also transforming the entire property into a stylish pub-restaurant-rooms with eleven individually designed bedrooms, a spacious restaurant serving some great food, an impressive bar area, and comfy outside seating.

Turn-up here on a warm summer’s evening after a day in Hay, and it’s an easy enough stroll down to the water’s edge of the River Wye, with a good book, before getting ready for dinner - possibly featuring a main course of Foyles Cordon Bleu breaded chicken breast stuffed with Gruyere, Emmental, Black Forest ham, crushed potatoes, with apple and walnut salad.

Breakfast, just like everything else here, is outstanding; and there are B&B packages featuring a £30 per head contribution towards an evening meal, accompanied by a complementary glass of fizz.

Stay in Hay?  No way - it’s taken every trick in the book to find this place!