'Talk about Cotswolds chic,' writes our inspector of boutique hotel Wild Thyme and Honey, which stands alongside The Crown at Ampney Brook. Together, they form part of Grosvenor Pubs and Inns, but are a very personal project for founders Jason and Shara Myers. 'There's the usual exposed stone and rustic furniture, but it's all contemporary cool, with oversized headboards, concrete hanging lights like cowbells.' All rooms have posh toiletries, an espresso machine, a decanter of sloe gin. While the A417 passes right by, rear-facing suites with an in-room bathtub overlook a brook with river pretensions. A honeymoon apartment has a four-poster made from tree trunks, a sauna, a hot tub by the water's edge. The welcoming residents' courtyard is a good place for a pre-dinner drink, or go to the inn proper, 'not your atmospheric old village inn with cosy corners, but with large, open spaces and an open kitchen which dispenses fantastic food'. 'Crab cake and lobster arancini were bursting with flavour, and I was impressed by the filo pastry bulging with vegetables'. In the morning, 'the full English was the perfect fuel for an amble round the Ampneys' (borrow boots and brollies when it rains).