THE BEST HOTELS IN BRITAIN
A19th-century former hunting lodge, a fairy tale gothic mansion and a converted Presbyterian church are among the winners of the 2018 Good hotel Guide césar Awards. the full awards, featuring the best hotels, inns and B&Bs in Britain and Ireland, are to be announced on Monday. here, we exclusively reveal the winners . . . NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR The Mash Inn, Radnage, Buckinghamshire thIs former 18th-century inn has been brilliantly reinvented by nick Mash as a restaurant-with-rooms.
chef Jon Parry cooks over the fire in an open kitchen, using sumptuous local and home-grown ingredients.
his imaginative cuisine includes oysters with nettle sauce, chicken liver parfait, and goat’s cheese with haw jelly. try the maple syrup andd soysoymarinated cod. Plates are made by a local potter. DON’T MISS: the turmeric ginger beer served at breakfast. DETAILS: B&B £100–£130 (01494 482440, themashinn.com). A SEASIDE SMASHER Soar Mill Cove Hotel, Salcombe, Devon tAke a picnic hamper down to a large sandy beach from keith Makepeace’s hotel — which has won seaside hotel of the year — or train binoculars on dolphinss from your bedroom window.
there’s delicious seafood on thee seasonal menus. the complimentary Devon cream teas served on the terrace overlooking the sea require a good walk afterwards.
DON’T MISS: the chef ’ s pavlova, invented by Granny Makepeace, which Audrey hepburn dubbed ‘divine’ when she stayed at the hotel in 1983.
DETAILS: B&B £199–£329 (01548 561566, soarmillcove.co.uk). HIGH-END LUXURY Hambleton Hall, Hambleton, Rutland MIchelIn- stArreD cooking, marble bathrooms, antique furnishing and designer fabrics set the tone at this 19th-century former hunting lodge, run by tim and stefa hart. It wins the luxury hotel of the year award.
Beautiful landscaped grounds border the broad expanse of rutland Water. noel coward sang its praises when he stayed here in the twenties.
DON’T MISS: A boat ride around rutland Water.
DETAILS: B&B from £290 (01572 756991, hambletonhall.com). TOP FOR ROMANCE The Forest Side, Grasmere, Cumbria In the heart of Wordsworth country, this entrancing gothic mansion, in acres of landscaped gardens, has been given a multi-million-pound makeover. stylish bedrooms and kevin tickle’s accomplished Michelin-starred cooking are among its considerable charms.
DON’T MISS: A welcome pack for your dog includes biscuits, bed, bowls and a personalised welcome letter. DETAILS:DETAILS B&B £209–£349 (015394 35250, theforestside.com). COUNTRY HOUSE WINNER Judges, Yarm, North Yorkshire cAnAPés are served before a blazing fire in the drawing room filled with paintings and antiques at the Downs family’s Victorian mansion on the edge of the moors. rooms have a four-poster or sleigh bed and designer fabrics.
DON’T MISS: the 24-hour room valet service, which includes a shoe-shine.
DETAILS: B&B £160–£260 (01642 789000, judgeshotel.co.uk). BRITAIN’S BEST B&B St Cuthbert’s House, Seahouses, Northumberland ADMIre the attention to detail at this welcoming B& B in a converted Presbyterian church, not far from Bamburgh castle.
It stages regular concerts of American folk music. Breakfast includes bacon from the farm down the road and kippers from the local smokehouse.
DON’T MISS: lindisfarne mead to accompany your morning porridge.
DETAILS: B&B £110–£125 (01665 720456, stcuthbertshouse.com). INN OF THE YEAR Red Lion Freehouse, East Chisenbury, Wiltshire chef/PAtrons Guy and Brittany Manning have a Michelin star for such inventive dishes as roast cornish brill with smoked pork jowl and cocoa beans at their pretty, thatched gastro- pub. Watch ducks bobbing on the river outside your bedroom in a building just down the road from the pub. DON’T MISS: the crop circle tours in the summertime. DETAILS: B&B from £180 (01980 671124, redlionfreehouse.com). WELSH CHARM Llys Meddyg, Newport, Pembrokeshire InfuseD with personality, edward and louise sykes’s Georgian house stands on the village’s main street and is the Welsh restaurant-with-rooms of the year winner.
enjoy locally fished, farmed and foraged ingredients. the food is sophisticated and the rooms snug and serene. DON’T MISS: A walk on the Pembrokeshire coastal path. DETAILS: B&B £100–£120 (01239 820008, llysmeddyg.com). IRISH HOTEL OF THE YEAR Viewmount House, Longford, Co. Longford Guests can curl up with James Joyce by a log fire in the library at Beryl and James kearney’s elegant 17th-century manor in landscaped grounds.
rooms have paintings, antiques and fresh flowers. Gary o’hanlon’s cooking in the restaurant in the converted stables is worth a detour. the restaurant, packed with locals, is clearly the place to go for a celebration.
DON’T MISS: freshly squeezed clementine juice for breakfast.
DETAILS: B&B from £67 (00 353 43 334 1919, viewmounthouse.com).
THE Good Hotel Guide is available for £16, a 20 per cent discount, at goodhotelguide.com