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.
2020 Discoveries
Editor’s Choice Hotel Discoveries
The Great House
Lavenham
Plus ça change. . . New proprietor Dominique Tropeano has retained the cherished French ambience created by former owners the Crépys. Behind its Georgian facade this ancient, timber- framed building lives on as a fine restaurant-with-rooms.
The Devonshire Arms
Skipton
Works of art from the collection at Chatsworth hang on the walls of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s Dales country house hotel, which joins sister property The Cavendish in the Guide, with special praise from our inspector for the chef and sommelier.
The Coach House
Brecon
With Georgian elegance, modern comforts, plus pikelets and rarebits for breakfast, Kayt and Hugh
Cooper’s Georgian coach house turned contemporary town house B&B ticks all the boxes for trusted readers. A Brecon beacon of warm hospitality.
Cooper’s Georgian coach house turned contemporary town house B&B ticks all the boxes for trusted readers. A Brecon beacon of warm hospitality.
The Ship Inn
Elie
Rachel and Graham Bucknall continue to innovate at this seaside pub with its own beach cricket team, promoted to a full entry after our inspectors pronounced it a corker. A new sea-view private dining room doubles as a pavilion.
The Pig at Bridge Place
Canterbury
A Jacobean manor house has become the latest in the Pig family. Every part of this Piggy was quite all right with our inspectors, from the shabby chic aesthetic to the kitchen-garden menus. We’re fans of the Pig brand. Honk if you support us.
23 Mayfield
Edinburgh
A rave report from an inspector for Ross Burnie’s family-run B&B gains it full Guide status. From rosemary water and home-made fudge in the bedroom to a candlelit breakfast, everything at this Victorian merchant’s house is splendid.
The St Tudy Inn
Bodmin
Wine producer Mark Hellyar and chef/ director Emily Scott have created a smart but approachable pub-with-rooms in a picture-postcard village. Bedrooms are painted in those dreamy soft greys that Farrow & Ball calls white. Ms Scott cooks with flair and imagination.
The Duncombe Arms
Ashbourne
A heartening tale of a village inn saved from ruin by locals. . . Johnny and Laura Greenall have done a bang-up job, transforming a Victorian boozer into a stylish pub with annexe rooms and first- rate cooking, earning the nod from our inspectors.
The Lord Poulett Arms
Hinton St George
West Country fixtures The Beckford Arms and The Talbot have a new sister here, a historic thatched village pub with stylish bedrooms, high-class cooking, lovely courtyard gardens, and – such novelty! – a Basque pelota wall and a pétanque piste.
From £65 per night
The Old Manor House
Shipston-on-Stour
Serendipity led trusted readers to Jane and William Pusey’s 16th-century manor house B&B. They found a winning combination of attention to detail, a perfect balance of historic character and modern convenience, and a friendly ambience.
2019 Discoveries
Editor’s Choice Hotel Discoveries
Summer Lodge
Evershot
Thomas Hardy, with his architect’s hat on, had a hand in extending this former dower house, today an exceptionally well-run hotel. Rooms have such pleasing touches as fresh flowers, fruit and shortbread. There is high-quality cooking, too.
From £60 per night
Blue Hayes
St Ives
Unabashedly luxurious, this 1920s retreat on the hill above Porthminster Beach impressed our inspector in every detail, from the hospitality tray’s fresh milk
and bone china teapot, to the chef’s way with local seafood, to breakfast’s devilled kidneys.
and bone china teapot, to the chef’s way with local seafood, to breakfast’s devilled kidneys.
The Punch Bowl Inn
Kendal
Rooms at this popular gastropub in a pretty Lakeland village are named after past vicars of the adjacent church. The young chef works with Cumbrian produce to create dishes that pack a punch. Comfy sofas, a log burner, beamed ceilings, bags of atmosphere.
The Gunton Arms
Thorpe Market
Damien Hirst in the ladies’ loo, David Bailey in the gents’, a deer park strewn with sculptures… This pub delights art-lovers and novelty-seekers. Under the dining room’s arched wooden ceiling, an open fire serves for grilling and smoking.
Twr y Felin Hotel
St Davids
A former temperance hotel built around a working windmill has been transformed, at vast expense, into ‘Wales’s first contemporary art hotel’. A showcase for local, seasonal Welsh produce and for over 100 pieces of specially commissioned art.
The Wellington Arms
Baughurst
A former hunting lodge today delights as a comfy country pub. Bedrooms have espresso machine and minibar. There are
honey bees, laying hens, home-grown and local produce – and Wellington teapots with a knitted cosy to buy as a souvenir.
honey bees, laying hens, home-grown and local produce – and Wellington teapots with a knitted cosy to buy as a souvenir.
Bayards Cove Inn
Dartmouth
There is a warm welcome at this former merchant’s house turned pub-with- rooms, behind a half-timbered facade, near the waterfront. Winding stairs lead to bedrooms with low, beamed ceilings. Inspectors enjoyed local crab in a lovely, pub atmosphere.
The Elms
Worcester
The name scarcely does justice to this gracious Queen Anne mansion turned luxury hotel and spa in landscaped grounds. Under new ownership, it impressed Guide inspectors from the moment they stepped into the stunning hallway.
The Raeburn
Edinburgh
Boutique rooms with rainforest shower and perhaps a roll-top bath, a library, bar, brasserie and terrace, friendly staff and Georgian elegance all come together as one harmonious whole at this family-run hotel just a 15-minute stroll from the city centre.
Brooks Country House
Ross-on-Wye
The creative owners have made over Georgian Pengethley Manor, with a beguiling mix of grandeur and fun. It stands in parkland complete with vineyard. Choose a house room or a horsebox – and get the nosebag on for hearty Herefordshire fare.
2018 Discoveries
Editor’s Choice Hotel Discoveries
The Pig at Combe
Honiton
‘Down country lanes and a mile-long private drive’, this Elizabethan manor house is the Miss Piggy among Robin Hutson’s quirky country house hotels (see index). Like that porcine diva, it embodies fabulosity with a dash of irresistibility and a great, big dollop of attitude.
The Crab & Lobster
Sidlesham
This ‘little gem’ of a 17th-century pub, run as a restaurant-with-rooms on the harbour, overlooks Pagham Nature Reserve with its black-tailed godwits, little egrets and spoonbills.
Coes Faen
Barmouth
On the edge of Snowdonia, with 30 acres of gardens overlooking the Mawddach estuary, lies one of the most innovative, eco-friendly hotels in the UK.
The Inn at Loch Tummel
Pitlochry
'A wonderful setting beside the loch' with views across the water to Schiehallion, the local Munro, makes Jade and Alice Calliva's former coaching inn a superbly relaxing place to stay.
Shieldaig Lodge
Gairloch
With 'wonderful views' of Loch Gairloch, this Victorian hunting lodge on a wooded estate where falconry, fishing and deer stalking can all be laid on for guests now accepts dogs in its bedrooms and bar.
No.15 Great Pulteney
Bath
Behind a Grade I listed Georgian facade, new owners GuestHouse have had designer Martin Hulbert refresh the interiors of this characterful, family-friendly, dog-friendly hotel, playing with ideas of Jane Austen’s Bath.
Sign of the Angel
Lacock
It would be 'hard to find somewhere more olde-worlde than this 15th-century coaching inn', with its fireplaces and flagstones, and wonky beams aplenty.
Llanthony Priory Hotel
Abergavenny
Far up the Vale of Ewyas in the Welsh Black mountains, and just before the road becomes a narrow track, is where you’ll find the wild and remote setting of Llanthony Priory Hotel.
The Pipe and Glass Inn
South Dalton
The winning formula of Michelin-starred food plus spoiling bedrooms in James and Kate Mackenzie's classic coaching inn prompted one fan to make a 60-mile detour to spend the night there.
Restaurant James Sommerin
Penarth
There are great views over the esplanade to the Bristol Channel and the Art Deco pier pavilion from Louise and James Sommerin’s Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms.
2017 Discoveries
Editor’s Choice Hotel Discoveries
The Dial House
Norwich
You might fancy you are in a Parisian garret, in the mysterious east, on safari, or (mama mia!) in a Venetian palazzo, when you book into Hannah Springham and Andrew Jones’s hotel, with rooms themed on the Georgian Grand Tour and Victorian globe trotting.
The Gallivant
Camber
Amid coastal gardens, across the road from the important wildlife habitat of Camber dunes, Harry Cragoe’s adults-only hotel has the feel of a Californian motel.
Goldstone Hall
Market Drayton
There are many special things about John and Sue Cushing’s red brick Georgian manor house in Shropshire dairy country, from the 'excellent food' to 'spotless, spacious and well-planned bedrooms', but the flower-filled borders and vast kitchen garden are truly remarkable.
Chapel House
Penzance
Susan Stuart’s welcoming Georgian town house B&B is so beautiful, it might grace the pages of an interiors magazine.
Penally Abbey
Tenby
A 'good base for exploring the Pembrokeshire coast', the Boissevain family's Strawberry Hill Gothic house in a 'beautiful location with outstanding rooms and dinner' proves hard to leave, say readers.
The Red Lion
Babcary
Locals and tourists alike enjoy the friendly atmosphere at Clare and Charlie Garrard's thatched village gastropub, ideally situated to break the journey between London and the West Country.
The Devonshire Arms
Langport
From the outside, this 18th-century inn overlooking a green with a lime tree at each corner looks every inch the historic village pub, but within lies contemporary chic.
The Plough
Kelmscott
In ‘a gorgeous village hidden away on the banks of the Thames’, this 17th-century inn is owned by Sebastian and Lana Snow, who also have the Five Alls, a stroll along the Thames Path at Lechlade (Shortlist).
Forest Side
Grasmere
This Victorian Gothic mansion continues to delight guests with its stylish, laid-back atmosphere, enormous wooded gardens and inspired culinary creations.
The Inn at West End
WEST END
Closed down because of ill health at end of September 2018. Gerry and Ann Price ‘set the standard’ at their ‘well-run’ pub/restaurant-with-rooms, where the ‘hands-on owners’ foster a hub-of-the-village atmosphere. Closed down because of ill health at end of September 2018.
2016 Discoveries
Editor’s Choice Hotel Discoveries
Old Downton Lodge
Ludlow
‘Pheasants scatter as you edge your way down the lanes’ to Pippa and Willem Vlok’s restaurant-with-rooms, occupying medieval and Georgian farm buildings around a flower-filled courtyard.
Newbegin House
Beverley
Minutes from Beverley centre, this Georgian town house whisks you off to a world of refinement with its handsome interiors, artwork and treasures, and walled garden.
The Seaside Boarding House
Burton Bradstock
There's more than an air of Cape Cod about this white clapboard hotel above Chesil Beach, which could have come straight out of an Edward Hopper painting.
Knockendarroch Hotel
Pitlochry
‘A stately house with a fairly large garden, quite close to town’ is how John Stewart, founder of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, described this Victorian baronial mansion which in 1951 hosted the first performances in a marquee.
The Bridge Inn at Ratho
Ratho
Guests receive a ‘cheerful welcome’ at this pub-with-rooms, which stands by a bridge over the Union Canal in a conservation village.
The Carpenters Arms
Thirsk
A successful blend of the traditional and the modern can be found at this smart village inn, with views over the Vale of York, chalet-style bedrooms, and classy food.
Eckington Manor
Eckington
On a working farm on the edge of a village surrounded by the River Avon, Judy Gardner’s stylish restaurant-with-rooms is also home to a light-filled, state-of-the-art cookery school.
Morpeth
‘Friendly, attentive’ staff encourage a ‘jovial, relaxed’ feel at this updated pub-with-rooms, in a ‘cleverly renovated’ former hospital building.