His mission: To test hotel hospitality to the limit

THE Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston on the Hampshire/Berkshire border ‘keeps our world safe and secure by delivering warheads f or the UK’s nuclear weapons’, according to its website. A matter of opinion, I suppose, but my goodness it’s an ugly place.

Keep going, though, and you end up in Baughurst, which is where you’ll find The Wellington Arms — and the contrast could not be more stark.

To eat here is a joy; to stay here and have dinner and then breakfast is one of life’s great treats and nothing short of inspirational. Jason King and Simon Page have such impeccable taste, with an attention for detail that puts top interior designers to shame. Everything is pretty.

My wife says it’s the nicest place she has stayed all year. It’s an old shooting lodge transformed into a bijou dining pub with just three bedrooms, two in a converted barn, one (The Apartment) above the bar.

We’re in The Apartment — and it’s exquisite. Soft sisal flooring; a plump elegant sofa,

antique chest of drawers, two dainty cups and saucers and a teapot with its own tea cosy (knitted by Simon’s mum), a huge barleytwist bed laden with sumptuous pillows, strong brass lamps on the bedside tables, a thriving orchid and some wonderful original art mainly displayed in white, wood frames.

Australian Jason is in the kitchen and most of his veg is grown outside in the immaculate garden (there are resident hens, too).

Prices are fair — about £8 to £10 for starters, £16 to £25 for main courses — and the wine glasses are so lovely that even an ordinary sauvignon blanc becomes extraordinary. There are 12 tables in total.

‘Can you think of anything to criticise?’ I ask my wife. ‘Nothing,’ she says. But, then, just before our first courses arrive, Simon hands us the breakfast menu and wants to know what we would like to order and reminds us that breakfast is at 9.30am, not before or after but at 9.30am on the dot.

We protest, meekly, then go along with it because we don’t want to invite discord of any kind into this harmonious atmosphere. We explore the garden before our punctual full English. The lawn looks like Centre Court before anyone has played on it and the shrubs, which should be wilting at this time of year, are thriving.

Each table at breakfast has its own toaster. The flat mushrooms are the best ever and the eggs are such a lovely colour that we buy half a dozen (£2) at the bar before leaving.

Never mind the Atomic Weapons Establishment, we think the world would be a lot ‘safer and more secure’ if there were a plethora of places like this. The Wellington Arms Baughurst Road

Baughurst Hants RG26 5LP Tel: 0118 9820110, thewellingtonarms.com

Doubles from £100 B&B