AN INSPECTOR CALLS

EXETER Cathedral is just up the hill from City Gate Hotel. It’s a magnificent building (the Cathedral, that is), with the largest Bishop’s throne in Europe.

Superlatives are thinner on the ground back at City Gate, but it’s a friendly sort of place — part of the Young’s collection.

There are 14 rooms. Ours has dark green panelling, garish cushions and various bits and pieces hanging on the walls.

‘Cluttered kitsch,’ opines my wife. Which is unfair. But it’s impossible to forget that

you’re in a room above a busy pub. The best feature is the bathroom: trendy white tiles and a butcher’s sink. The espresso machine has broken down at breakfast and the cafetiere substitute is undrinkable. ‘You can tell by how it looks,’ I tell our waiter. ‘I agree,’ he says, before conjuring a coffee that’s a 100 per cent improvement. It’s not the end of the world. A proper cup of coffee — and much more besides — awaits near the cathedral. City Gate Hotel Lower North St Exeter EX4 3RB Tel: 01392 495811, citygatehotel.com Doubles from £99