NIGEL THOMPSON MARJORIE YUE Fave reviews

GET a room! The Good Hotel Guide’s 40th anniversary edition is out, with impartial reviews and information on 840 small owner-managed properties. Here are our six favourites offering something special... and good value too. Fresh flowers, eggs from its hens, home-baked bread and award-winning sausages show care and attention to detail at this 15th Century longhouse. The cosy Willow bedroom – with stone walls, beams, brass bedstead and espresso machine – is the pick. B&B £81-130. Frog Street Farmhouse and (inset left) pretty room at Thistleyhaugh Farm

hearty breakfasts. Rooms face garden or country. B&B from £130.

Guests get more than just an excellent B&B at a Georgian house on the edge of town – there’s a log burner in the lounge, and the grounds are a haven for red squirrels. A genuine welcome makes the price seem a steal. B&B £37.50–£45pp.

and a Welsh wool blanket. The garden is bliss on a sunny day – Prosecco optional. For breakfast it’s pancakes, Glamorgan sausages and friendly local advice. B&B £95. Family farmhouse meets Georgian mansion with antiques, original features and modest prices for grand rooms. At breakfast sunlight shines through stained-glass windows. B&B €120–140. theviewfromtheshard.com irishferries.com valletta2018.org B&W Wireless noise cancelling head phones £329.99 bowers-wilkins.com

Remove them and they go to stand-by. Put them on to resume the music. Noise cancelling adjusts to your environment. And one charge lasts 22 hours. Not cheap but supersmart.

■■Frog Street Farmhouse, Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset: FARM FAvOURITES »»London’sThe View from The Shard attraction is offering two free child tickets for every paying adult at half-term. It’s also teamed with new Paddington 2 movie to offer treats inspired by the bear’s beloved marmalade. From £25.95 per adult at »»IrishFerries’ new €144million ferry for 2018 will be christened W.B. Yeats after Ireland’s bestloved poet. The name was chosen in a public poll and the vessel will sail the Dublin/Holyhead and Ireland/France routes from midsummer. »»HistoricValletta is European Capital of Culture from January 20, 2018 with more than 400 activities on offer in Malta and Gozo throughout the year including a carnival, operas and music festivals.

■■Cnapan, Newport, Pembrokeshire: ■■Booking info at the Good Hotel Guide 2018: Great Britain & Ireland £16 at goodhotelguide.com