AN INSPECTOR CALLS

RESTAURANTS with rooms are still on the menu, but how about rooms with no restaurant?

Here’s a fine example — an upscale B&B that operates like a hotel but, apart from a sumptuous breakfast, requires you to leave the premises if you want food. Which is no hardship given the number of restaurants nearby, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Kitchen.

Number Thirty Eight Clifton (no children under 12) is run by Adam Dorrien-Smith, whose family runs Tresco in the Isles of Scilly.

Clearly, vast sums have gone into turning this traditional townhouse into one of the swishest places to stay in Bristol.

It stands high on a ridge with views of the Downs in one direction, the city in the other.

Bright, contemporary art hangs on muted walls. Seagrass is everywhere and the staff (no one there after 8.30pm) are delightful.

Only one of the 12 rooms, a suite, is vacant when we book, which I’m offered for £220. It’s vast, with dual aspect windows, retro lamps and velvet upholstery. The shower and WC are hidden in cupboards, leaving the tin bath to take all the plaudits.

In the morning, the atmosphere is warm and friendly, the croissants better than anything you’ll find in France. Newspapers and coffee flow freely — and my wife opines that Number Thirty Eight Clifton has ‘reinvented the B&B’. Number Thirty Eight Clifton, 38 Upper Belgrave Rd Bristol BS8 2XN number38clifton.com 01179 466905 Doubles from £130 B&B