A GUEST house in Llanover was named as one of Wales’ top places to stay just five months after first opening its doors.

The Llansabbath Country House has joined 24 other establishments on the Visit Wales Gold Award List of Accommodation for 2008/09.

The property first opened its doors on the Llanover Estate, near Abergavenny, in May. The Visit Wales team sent a mystery shopper to the guest house in June.

He graded the accommodation as five star and the manager was emailed to confirm that it had made it through the first stage of the Gold Award listing process.

After making it into the top two per cent in the country, the Llansabbath House will now receive a plaque and will feature on the Visit Wales website and in all its brochures.

The guest house has just five en-suite bedrooms and the property has been leased from the Llanover Estate by Lilian Balsdon, 53 and husband Christopher, 54, from Abergavenny.

Mrs Balsdon said: "The building is an old farm home and has been here for over 300 years. It is right in the middle of the countryside and has beautiful views of the Blorenge.

"We did all the interior design ourselves and because of the setting and the small number of rooms, we have been able to offer luxury."

They ran the Rohilla Guest House in Cwmbran for two years. Now the couple split their time between their own respective other businesses and looking after guests.

Mr Balsdon is an electrician and Mrs Balsdon a fitness instructor. They added that they were "absolutely thrilled" to receive the accolade so soon after taking over.

The Gold Award recognises outstanding quality, comfort and hospitality.