It’s always a wonderful thing to discover a wonderful new hotel, and this year our editors have been hard at work, scouring the country for hidden jewels. From country inns to Georgian manors, each of these hotels has something unique to offer, be it all fresh local ingredients in the restaurant, a warm friendly environment, or spectacular design and attention to detail. These are the Good Hotel Guide’s top 10 hotel discoveries this year.
Editor’s Choice 2017 Hotel Discoveries
The Gallivant Hotel - Spa Escape
Camber
‘Jolly’ dinners and a ‘bright, friendly’ atmosphere come together at Harry Cragoe’s carefree restaurant-with-rooms, across the road from the high dunes of Camber Sands.
From £95 per night
The Inn at West End - £175 Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Special Offer
West End
Locals flock to this ‘attractive’, ‘well-run’ and well-liked pub/restaurant-with-rooms, adjacent to Bisley, for coffee and a chat in the morning – when they’re not swapping excess allotment produce for wine and real ales, that is.
From £125 per night
Penally Abbey
Penally
There’s much that appeals at this ‘superb’ hotel, in a skilfully spruced-up late 18th-century Gothic house looking out to sea, say guests in 2016: ‘friendly, helpful’ staff; ‘excellent’ food; ‘lovely’ spots to lounge in; a good-natured atmosphere throughout.
Goldstone Hall
Market Drayton
‘Intimate and informal, this characterful, family-run Georgian manor house fits the bill for quiet weekends away,’ say Guide inspectors in 2016.
From £90 per night
Red Lion Inn
Babcary
Wind down narrow lanes to arrive at this real-ale-serving, quiz-night-holding, Christmas-market-organising, summertime-pizza-serving pub-with-rooms, the thatched-roof heart of the hamlet.
Chapel House
Penzance
Be buoyed by the ‘coastal lightness’ at Sue Stuart’s personable guest house, in a ‘lovely’ location close to the harbour wall.
From £150 per night
The Plough
Kelmscott
The setting is ‘wonderful’, the welcome ‘informal and warm’. In a ‘beguiling’ spot close to the River Thames, Guide inspectors in 2016 were won over by this ‘popular’ village pub-with-rooms.
From £90 per night
Forest Side
Grasmere
A log fire still burns in the original Victorian fireplace of this one-time walkers’ hostel, but virtually everything else about the ‘beautifully renovated’, ‘comfortably furnished’ mansion is bright with a ‘fabulous’ new modern-rustic style, and a ‘superb’ team of staff to boot.
The Devonshire Arms
Long Sutton
‘Thoroughly recommended’, Philip Mepham’s ‘pretty’ inn on the village green enters the Guide this year thanks to praise from regular correspondents who applaud the ‘friendly, efficient’ staff, ‘comfortable’ rooms and ‘generous’ portions of ‘excellent’ country meals.
From £100.00 per night
The Dial House
Reepham
‘Discreet’ at first glance, this ‘handsome’ red brick building, in an ‘appealing’ small town, hosts grand surprises in its ‘eclectic’, ‘faultlessly decorated’ bedrooms.