The ‘Inn’ Thing 2
Posted by Anthony on August 14th, 2008Reading Tam’s recent posts about Ilse Crawford’s new venture and the Barnsley House boys’ latest acquisition, I couldn’t help wondering (in true Carrie Bradshaw style) whether we’ll be seeing an explosion in polished designer ‘boozers with bedrooms’ in the next year or two. If this turn of events does become a trend, I don’t think I’ll be alone in welcoming the development – there are few experiences more depressing than checking into an overpriced, soulless, motorway hotel where the nicest rooms are the ones that don’t smell like a badger’s funeral home and the best views are of the petrol station forecourt.
It’s one thing the British have always done better than anyone else – the inn. It’s as much a part of our isle’s history as tea-drinking, cricket, or queuing. There’s something poetic about the idea of the roadside tavern that hearkens back to the days of stage coaches reining up for the night on stormy moors, gnarled fishermen slamming heavy wooden doors against the coast-whipping winds and settling in for an ale and a sea shanty, or cackling, creaking-bodiced wenches spilling frothing flagons on flagstone floors. <Sigh>
Looking through the Smith collection in search of the ’boutique bed, beer and breakfasts’ that are already at the crest of the boutique inn wave, I thought I’d draw up a quick run-down of some of our favourite inns and pubbish stays. Drum-roll, please (and a pint of stout and a pickled egg)…
The George in Rye, East Sussex
1. The George: a converted Cotswolds coaching inn with fantastic food to boot.
2. The Bull Hotel: gorgeous vintage-chic interiors in foodie Bridport.
3. The Wheatsheaf: Phenomenal gastro-pub cooking in the farmlands of Northeast Somerset.
4. The Miller of Mansfield: The Thames Valley’s 18th-century king of pub stays.
5. The George in Rye: Rye’s Regency coaching inn, complete with stunning ballroom.
6. The Bath Arms: a chocolate-box inn on Bath’s Longleat estate.
7. The Feversham Arms: a fantastic North Yorkshire Moors location and spa treatments on tap.
There’s more to come over the next few months (look out for the Ragged Cot and the Crab & Lobster), and, if things continue this way, over the next few years too…
Wow!
Back in memory lane. The George in Rye. Still I can feel the dent in my scalp of them low ceilings … but twas a lovely place it was.
By Happy Hotelier
On August 18th, 2008