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.
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.
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 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
Shieldaig Lodge
Gairloch
Once a Victorian hunting lodge, this ‘unpretentious’ hotel makes the most of both its history and its West Highland geography on the banks of Loch Gairloch.
The Pig at Combe
Honiton
The Empress of Blandings among Robin Hutson’s Pig hotels (see index), this honey-stone Elizabethan manor house in the Otter valley is reached by a mile-long carriage drive.
The Crab & Lobster
Sidlesham
Birdwatchers flock to this 17th-century inn turned restaurant-with-rooms overlooking Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve.
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 great leap of imagination carried Alice and Jade Calliva from a Croydon flat to the 18th-century coaching inn with spectacular views across the loch to Schiehallion, the local Munro.
No.15 Great Pulteney
Bath
The Georgian facade of this Grade I listed building on long, wide, very grand Great Pulteney looks like something Jane Austen would recognise.
Sign of the Angel
Lacock
You may feel a sense of déjà vu at Tom and Jack Nicholas’s timber-frame coaching inn: it starred as the Babberton Arms in Harry Potter films, while the picturesque streetscape has stood in for Cranford in the BBC drama.
Llanthony Priory Hotel
Abergavenny
Soaring arches frame views of the Black mountains and the Vale of Ewyas at this ruined 12th-century Augustinian abbey with a hotel in the former prior’s lodgings.
The Pipe and Glass Inn
South Dalton
A picture-perfect village inn, with Michelin-starred food plus indulgent bedrooms, keeps customers old and new more than happy.
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 - Free In-Room Cocktail Special Offer
Norwich
Studied eccentricity abounds at this Georgian house on the market square with most rooms styled on a geographic theme – and a hairdresser and boutique on site.
The Gallivant
Camber
A trusted reviewer had a ‘great stay’ in 2020 at this ‘very welcoming’ restaurant-with-rooms, a skimming stone’s throw from the dunes of Camber Sands.
Goldstone Hall
Market Drayton
A vast, prolific kitchen garden is the perennial glory of John and Sue Cushing’s red brick Georgian manor house in flower-filled acres amid gentle countryside.
Chapel House
Penzance
A Guide regular gives ‘five stars’ this year to this B&B in a serene Georgian town house overlooking Penzance harbour.
Penally Abbey
Tenby
There is plenty to please the eye here: a lovely Georgian-Gothic house with romantic cusped windows and glorious views across Carmarthen Bay to Caldey Island.
The Red Lion
Babcary
With regional ales and ciders on tap, the charismatic Red Lion is as much a local watering hole as it is a contemporary pub-with-rooms, where owners Clare and Charlie Garrard ensure that in the cosy bar, with its ancient flagstone floors, exposed beams and open fires, both villagers and residents feel at home.
The Devonshire Arms
Langport
A former hunting lodge in a village that was once part of the Devonshire estate, this inn has been given a smart make-over by hands-on owners Philip and Sheila Mepham.
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, one of Andrew Wildsmith’s small, sophisticated group (see also Hipping Hall, Cowan Bridge), manages to be stylish yet relaxed.
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 - 2021 Midweek Special Offer
Ludlow
Hidden away down a ‘long winding track’, Pippa and Willem Vlok’s restaurant-with-rooms has a secluded, ‘away from it all’ feel.
The Carpenters Arms
Thirsk
At this smart village inn, with views over the Vale of York, visitors can chat with locals over a pint of real ale, dine on classy pub food, and sleep in spacious, chalet-style rooms.
Newbegin House
Beverley
In a ‘wonderful’ walled garden, yet just minutes from the centre of Beverley, this classic Georgian town house is brimful of family treasures accumulated by owners Walter and Nuala Sweeney, who ‘treat their guests as friends’.
The Seaside Boarding House
Burton Bradstock
Order a crab sandwich on the terrace, gaze out over Lyme Bay from this white-painted hotel above Chesil Beach, and you can half imagine you’re in Edward Hopper’s Cape Cod.
Knockendarroch Hotel
Pitlochry
Pitlochry’s renowned Festival Theatre was born in 1951 in the grounds of this Victorian mansion, run today as a welcoming hotel by Struan and Louise Lothian.
The Bridge Inn at Ratho
Ratho
Beside a bridge over the Union Canal, Graham and Rachel Bucknall’s genial pub-with-rooms is conveniently sited for Edinburgh airport.
Eckington Manor
Eckington
Judy Gardner’s restaurant-with-rooms and purpose-built cookery school sit amid a working farm in the Avon valley.
St. Mary’s Inn
Morpeth
‘Friendly, attentive’ staff encourage a ‘jovial, relaxed’ feel at this updated pub-with-rooms, in a ‘cleverly renovated’ former hospital building.