Europe’s best B&B? An ex-school in Cotswolds
IT cannot offer spectacular mountain scenery or the buzz of a historic city. And there are only four bedrooms. But the Old School, set in the rolling Cotswolds countryside, has been voted Europe’s best B&B.
The immaculate former Victorian schoolhouse has won rave reviews on travel website TripAdvisor from more than 700 guests. They told how they were ‘pampered beyond anything’ by owners Wendy and John Veale.
As a result, the Old School, in the Gloucestershire village of Little Compton, where a double room with breakfast costs from £135 a night, was voted best B&B in Europe and fourth best in the world in the website’s 2018 Travellers’ Choice awards, behind two Brazilian guesthouses and one in India. Four other British B&Bs made the world’s top ten.
Guests have described Mrs Veale as the ‘perfect hostess’, praising her ‘incredible’ home cooked meals and the ‘beautifully decorated’ en-suite bedrooms.
On arrival, guests are greeted with cream tea and sweet treats. Eggs for breakfast come from chickens in the back garden. Mrs Veale, 59, a member of The Guild of Food Writers, helps style and prepare food for magazines and TV. She prepares four-course dinners, featuring local ingredients, on request.
She claims the secret to the success of her B&B, which opened in 2007, is the personal services. She said: ‘I don’t have a booking system. I like to find out a little bit more about the people who are coming through our front door. I’ve always had very good rankings... but to actually suddenly be told you’re the number one in Europe – it was a very big surprise.’
The Lawton Court Hotel in Llandudno, North Wales, was voted Europe’s best in terms of value for money.
The neighbouring £80-a-night, four-star Lauriston Court, which is run by the same family, was the UK’s best bargain hotel, and the second best in the world.