YOUR COMPLETE FUILD TO AIRPORT LOUNGES

He pays his way... and tells it like it is

ARRIVING late was always the plan. We’d been at a s h ow in nearby Christchurch and weren’t planning on eating at the Lord Bute when we arrived at 10.30pm. But we were a little peckish. ‘Any chance of some cheese and biscuits,’ I asked the barman, more in hope than expectation.

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘How about some cured smoked salmon to go with it?’

I put this willingness in part down to the Lord Bute having been in private hands for more than 30 years. Its computers seem programmed to say ‘yes’.

A huge plate of cheese arrived, with delicious strips of salmon. What’s more, the barman poured me the biggest glass of white wine I’ve ever seen. ‘That should keep you going,’ he said. The hotel — in easy striking distance of the New Forest and the Dorset coast — was once home to Lord Bute, prime minister for 12 months in 1762-3 during the reign of George III.

There are 13 rooms. In ours, there was a lot of brown: brown wardrobe, brown desk, brown wicker sofa, brown curtains, brown headboard, brown bedspread . . . but you don’t come here for a cuttingedge break. You come because it’s good value and friendly.

My fellow guests are all couples and everyone tucks in to the full English in the morning. Before leaving, I pick up a flyer explaining about the hotel’s jazz nights and that chef Rosemary Shrager will be doing a turn in June. I suspect the Lord Bute has a loyal following.

The Lord Bute Hotel 181-185 Lymington Road, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 4JS thelordbute.co.uk, 01425 278884

Doubles from £143