Who doesn’t love a cosy weekend escape to a beautifully designed pub with rooms? At the Royal George in the Wye Valley – one of the oldest pubs in Wales – Camilla Kelly of design studio The Mint List has thoughtfully restored the interiors to create a welcoming retreat. Products from the Design Centre’s showrooms have a strong part to play in Kelly’s scheme, which balances tradition and comfort, and delivers the quintessential elevated rural stay.

Kelly used the work of local makers to give the interiors a distinct sense of place, from the Welsh blankets to the bespoke timber furniture; curated vintage finds also help bed in the spaces, making them feel as if the interiors have evolved alongside the building’s long history.

A reclaimed brass ship’s window sits at the entrance to the restaurant, where swan-necked ‘York’ wall lights from Davey at Original BTC lend an elevated rustic feel, their opal glass softening the atmosphere. The dining chairs are upholstered in Larsen’s herringbone ‘Playa’ fabric, a performance textile that’s the perfect choice for such a hard-working area.

After dinner, relax by the fire and sink into armchairs upholstered in GP & J Baker’s ‘Burford Stripe’ and ‘Weathered Linen’; Larsen’s checkerboard ‘Jeff’ fabric; and Casamance’s bestselling cotton-linen blend, ‘Paris Texas’.

The 20 guest rooms are split between six Heritage Rooms and suites within the main hotel, with dog-friendly garden rooms and cabins making up the remainder. Heritage Rooms each take inspiration from figures with a historic connection: in the Charles Dean Suite, a bed upholstered in Dedar’s rich green ‘A Perfect Flower’ textured wool sits against Nobilis’ bucolic ‘Bosquet Sisal’ wallcovering, an homage to classical tapestries in a pared-back neutral colourway.

In the eaves of the building, the Beaufort Suite’s sitting area is lit by Porta Romana’s ‘Holden’ wall light in antique brass. The garden-facing rooms incorporate fabrics by Mark Alexander, Kravet, Threads at GP & J Baker and Nobilis.

The Royal George is already garnering accolades: it has been honoured as The Times’ Wales Hotel of the Year in its 2026 Best Places to Stay awards, while Condé Nast Traveller says that it “feels both cosy and cinematic from the moment you pull up”. Fabulous hospitality is, of course, the secret to its success – but The Mint List’s interiors are what elevates it into a design destination in its own right.

Images: Dave Watts