Hotel of the week: The Olde Bell Inn
Posted by Anthony on July 30th, 2009Welcome to week three of our celebration of the greatest, goodest and gorgeousest of the Smith boutique-hotel collection. (In case you’ve missed our first fortnight, we’ve already covered a fabulous Portuguese farmhouse in Alentejo and a superb self-catering cottage in Norfolk). This week, we’ve been wondering, ‘if we fled the Smith offices in London, and ran away to the countryside for a few days, where could we get to a) quickly and b) with a guarantee of glorious surroundings, fantastic British food, and a chic-yet-informal atmosphere?’ There’s only one answer – let’s hear it for…
The Olde Bell Inn, Berkshire
Style Inn-keeping with tradition
Setting Thames riverside village
Why this week? There’s no better antidote to a rainy July than hearty seasonal food, no better chef to prepare it than Rosie Sykes, and no better place to eat it than this Ilse Crawford-redesigned coaching inn in Hurley (except perhaps, its sister establishment in the Chilterns, The Crown Inn). Add the fact that Mr & Mrs Smith members can currently get two nights for the price of one throughout August, 
and we have all the incentive we need.
Our favourite rooms
Simple, pared back, modern and comfortable, the Olde Bell’s Crawford-refurbished rooms retain the quintessentially English feel of the inn as a whole, with chunky farmhouse furniture, woven wool blankets, oak floorboards, and smart, natural tones. Thanks to the grassy scents of the hand-made rush matting, the rooms even smell rustic. Bathrooms are fitted with drench showers or elegant claw-foot baths. All the rooms have been recently (and lovingly) refurbished but ask for a room overlooking the wild-meadow garden.
Mr & Mrs Smith say ‘The exterior looks like any other Tudor pub – white, slightly wonky, with leadlight windows and orange roof tiles – and you’d be forgiven for walking right past. Don’t. Upon crossing the threshold, the first thing we noticed was the roaring fire and the typical English-inn oak bar. Even with a king-size bed, flatscreen TV, several chairs, side table and whatnot, there’s enou
gh space in the rooms to dance around, swing a cat and do the fandango. The bathroom is similarly vast and has dark oak floors, a walk-in shower with a monsoon showerhead the size of a dinner plate, and Australian botanical skincare range Aesop. The best feature, however, is the deep, claw-footed, roll-top bath. We’re looking forward to our next trip to Henley, mainly in order to schedule a dinner stop at the Olde Bell Inn – but, next time, we won’t imbibe quite so much whisky by the fire…’
Read our full hotel review…
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