A NEWPORT B&B has become the city's first to be awarded four stars by the Welsh Tourist Board. For the owners of the Labuan Guest House in Beechwood the award is the icing on the cake of a 20-year dream.

Pat and John Bees bought the imposing four-storey Georgian house on Chepstow Road in September 2003.

Pat told escape.... she fell in love with the house many years before that. She said: "My friends owned it and promised that if they ever sold it they would give us first refusal.

"I have never been happier than when we got the keys to the house. It's so beautiful, with wonderful features."

The historic home, built 170 years ago, is named after an island in the South China Seas, just off the north-west of Malaysian Borneo.

Pat said: "I think the original owner of the house was a merchant seaman and had connections there.

"It's meant to be a really beautiful island - I wouldn't mind seeing it for myself some day." For now though, the 60-year-old is busy enough dividing her time between her full-time job with the South Wales Golfer and the six-bedroomed guest house.

She said: "It's a wonderful job, you get to meet so many people from all over the world. We've had people from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Germany. "Every morning when I wake up and walk down the stairs I have to pinch myself."

For more information contact 01633 664533 or see www.labuanhouse.co.uk