It isn’t entirely true that you get what you pay for. From a city centre stay to cheap countryside B&Bs, these are the places where you really get your money’s worth. Manor houses with spacious bedrooms, morning greetings from resident chickens or cleverly designed compact rooms in the city. Here are the Good Hotel Guide’s Editor’s Choice selections for best value for money hotels.
2023 Editor's Choice Hotels on a Budget
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
Cuckoo Brow Inn
Ambleside
This jolly country inn, between Lake Windermere and Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top home, welcomes walkers, dogs and children with smiles, robust food and toasty log-burners.
Helen Browning’s Royal Oak
Swindon
There is ‘a sense of connection to the land’ at this pub-with-rooms on an organic farm 'in a lovely and really rural village' on the Marlborough Downs.
Lake Isle
Uppingham
Tucked away in the oldest part of Uppingham, this 18th-century whitewashed former shop is a welcoming restaurant-with-rooms with large dining-room windows overlooking the High Street.
Newbegin House
Beverley
It is a rare treat to stay in a fine Georgian town house that is still very much a family home, with personal photographs and heirlooms complementing the handsome original features.
The Roseleigh
Buxton
Readers on their annual visit to the Buxton Festival assure us that all is as good as ever at Maggi and Gerard Heelan’s Victorian B&B.
The Pear Tree Inn
Melksham
A beguilingly pretty 17th-century Bath stone inn with stone-mullioned windows and cascading wisteria, this gastropub-with-rooms with atmospheric beamed dining room is set in lovely gardens.
The Baron At Bucknell
Knighton
Debra and Phil Wright’s village pub-with-rooms on the Welsh borders ‘puts to shame places that charge twice as much’, writes a regular Guide reader.
The Old Store
Chichester
There is a warm welcome in store for guests at this B&B and former 18th-century bakery in a South Downs hamlet on the edge of the Goodwood Estate.
The Bay Hotel
Helston
In ‘an excellent position facing the sea and small harbour' this updated Edwardian hotel is ‘bright, smart and spotless throughout’, while ‘its relatively small size gives it an intimacy and friendliness’.
The Blue Bell
Harrogate
This is a village inn you would like to keep a secret: real ales at the bar, high-quality food and a modern country style that still keeps the pub’s character.
2022 Editor's Choice Budget Hotels
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
Aynsome Manor
Grange-over-Sands
With B&B doubles from £99, this 400-year- old manor house offers superb value close to the attractions of the Lake District. A tranquil base with traditional comforts, it has simple country-style bedrooms and excellent cuisine.
Brockencote Hall
Chaddesley Corbett
Looking for all the world like a Loire château overlooking a lake, Brockencote has smart contemporary rooms, a well-regarded restaurant and grounds you can roam with four-legged friends. B&B doubles from £120.
Biggin Hall
Buxton
You get the Peak District without peak prices at this 17th-century country house, with beams, wood panelling and a vast fireplace in the comfy lounge. Some bedrooms have a four-poster or half-tester. B&B doubles from £110.
Castleman
Blandford Forum
There’s plenty of charm in Niki and Jez Barfoot’s 18th-century former dower house, with a Jacobean fireplace and ornate carved woodwork in one of the drawing rooms. Bedrooms are country style, with B&B doubles from £120.
The Pierhouse
Port Appin
Gordon Campbell Gray’s tranquil lochside hotel comes with spectacular sea views and delicious seafood. If you don’t mind only seeing the views from the public rooms, comfortable cliff-facing doubles cost from £125, B&B.
The Lord Poulett Arms
Hinton St George
It’s both chic and cheap at this thatched 17th-century inn, with plenty of exposed brick, beams and mix-and-match furniture in the bar and dining area and the uncluttered bedrooms upstairs. B&B doubles from £95.
From £65 per night
Brooks Guesthouse
Bristol
In the heart of the city, this uber-cool guesthouse not only has a rooftop garden, but also has Airstream-style caravans parked in it. Otherwise, rooms are smart but simple, with B&B doubles from £69, and caravans from £94.
The Gunton Arms
Thorpe Market
It’s got all the trappings of a posh country hotel, with a 1,000-acre estate and oodles of original artwork, but this is very much a proper pub, with blazing fires, flagstone floors, and rooms from a very reasonable £95, with breakfast.
2021 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
Cnapan
Newport
The Coopers settle you into their B&B with tea and Welsh cakes, before showing you to a bright and immaculate bedroom. Munch on kippers or Glamorgan sausages at breakfast, and read in the sunny garden.
Ees Wyke Country House
Ambleside
Beatrix Potter holidayed here, and no wonder. This country hotel overlooks Esthwaite Water, and most rooms enjoy views across the lake to the fells of the Old Man of Coniston, the Langdale Pikes and Grizedale Forest.
Yalbury Cottage
Dorchester
Deep in Thomas Hardy country, this charming former shepherd’s cottage has cosy bedrooms with bucolic views, a garden with comfortable seating, and an excellent restaurant working wonders with West Country produce.
Britannia House
Lymington
Tobias Feilke is your genial host at this double-fronted Victorian house overlooking a marina. Rooms are lavishly decorated with swags, drapes and plump sofas, and Tobias cooks up a mean breakfast in the morning.
The Beckford Arms
Tisbury
There’s plenty to like about this Wiltshire pub-with-rooms: down-to-earth food (Ploughman’s, Beckford beef burger), local ales, and sophisticated rooms with oak floors and fine Welsh blankets.
Grasshoppers
Glasgow
The perfect city-centre bolt-hole – it’s right next to the station – with bright, design- conscious bedrooms. Big breakfasts include a full Scottish. There is a bar and the option of a simple meal in the evening.
Newbegin House
Beverley
Walter and Nuala Sweeney will welcome you like trusted regulars to their atmospheric Georgian house, with its shuttered sash windows, fine antique furniture, family heirlooms, books, paintings and walled garden.
2020 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
The Rock Inn
Newton Abbot
With double rooms from as little as £110, a small charge for an extra bed for a child, a three-course dinner for £24.95, and Dartmoor on the doorstep, the Graves family’s friendly inn offers bargain breaks at any time of year.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Morpeth
If you could put a price on the warmth of welcome from Enid Nelless at this family- run Georgian farmhouse B&B, it would certainly be far higher than the £110 they charge for a double room (single £70).
Great breakfasts, home-made shortbread and hugs.
Great breakfasts, home-made shortbread and hugs.
The Old Vicarage
Newtown
Double rooms at Helen and Tim Withers’s eco-friendly Victorian vicarage in the Cambrian mountains start at £95 (£70 for a single guest). A family can stay for
£150, and an imaginative mezze platter is just £12. The warm hospitality is free.
£150, and an imaginative mezze platter is just £12. The warm hospitality is free.
Newbegin House
Beverley
Georgian elegance, a walled garden, rooms filled with antiques, generous extras (fresh milk, biscuits, chocolate), and an award- winning breakfast are all yours at Nuala and Walter Sweeney’s lovely home for a modest £90–£100 (single £60).
No. 33
Hunstanton
B&B starts at £95 a room (add £10 for an infant’s bed, deduct £10 if staying solo) at Jeanne Whittome’s stylish seaside B&B. A cream tea is served on arrival, and guests are presented with a discount voucher to spend at the owner’s deli.
The Roseleigh
Buxton
In a lovely situation overlooking the Pavilion Gardens lake, Gerard and Maggi Heelan’s Victorian B&B is a veritable snip. Traditionally furnished rooms cost
£35–£56 per person. The opera house is nearby. Readers sing the praises.
£35–£56 per person. The opera house is nearby. Readers sing the praises.
Jura Hotel
Craighouse
You could pitch your tent in the field in front of the McCallum family’s hotel overlooking the Sound of Jura and pay as little as £5, but for £100 more you can have a snug double room, a comfy bed and your own bathroom. A bar meal won’t break the bank.
The Old Rectory
Boscastle
It’s the little things that mean so much at Sally and Chris Searle’s B&B – free laundry, a morning paper, fresh flowers and produce from the beautiful organic garden, eggs from the hens, a lift into Boscastle for dinner. Doubles from £75, single £60.
2019 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
The Black Swan
Kirkby Stephen
Double rooms start from £95 at Louise Dinnes’s Victorian pub-with-rooms in an Eden Valley conservation village. It’s ideal for fell walkers and ramblers, with a comfy lounge and superior pub food; fish and chips for £12.
Aynsome Manor
Grange-over-Sands
Hosts Chris and Andrea Varley’s take great care of guests at their Lake District manor house. Comfortable rooms start at under £100, and at night the daily changing menu of locally sourced fare costs from £23.95.
The Ceilidh Place
Ullapool
A night in the bunkhouse, fish and chips in the café and a glass of Chilean Sauvignon will set you back £42.15 at Jean Urquhart’s fun music venue and bookshop-with-rooms. A good bedroom won’t break the bank either.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Morpeth
An ideal base for exploring the Northumberland coast, the Nelless family’s Georgian farmhouse B&B sits amid their organic livestock farm. Doubles cost £100, singles from £70, including a hearty breakfast (Craster kippers, local sausages, free-range eggs).
Dolffanog Fawr
Tywyn
There are views of lake and mountain from Alex Yorke and Lorraine Hinkins’s Snowdonia B&B. Rooms (from £90 single, £110 double) are supplied with smart toiletries. Breakfast, and a four-course dinner four nights a week, win plaudits.
No. 33
Hunstanton
Guests arriving at Jeanne Whittome’s stylish B&B are offered afternoon tea and a discount voucher for sister business Thornham Deli, which supplies breakfast bagels, smoked salmon and cream cheese. Doubles priced from £95, £85 for single occupancy.
Killiane Castle Country House and Farm
Drinagh
A 17th-century farmhouse grafted on to a 15th-century castle, in lovely grounds, is run by the Mernagh family as a wonderful guest house. Newcomers are welcomed with home-baked biscuits. Doubles start at just €120; breakfasts are a treat.
2018 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
The Black Swan
Kirkby Stephen
Holding court in the centre of Ravenstonedale, ‘twixt the Lakes and the Dales, The Black Swan has the hallmarks of a much-loved village inn: home-cooked food, cheery atmosphere and comforting bedrooms.
Lake Isle
Uppingham
Tucked away in the oldest part of Uppingham, this 18th-century whitewashed former shop is a welcoming restaurant-with-rooms with large dining-room windows overlooking the High Street.
Cnapan
Newport
With a home-from-home ambience, this Georgian B&B on Newport’s main street is an ideal base from which to explore the Pembrokeshire Coast national park.
The Ceilidh Place
Ullapool
Scottish culture and celebration are at the heart of the Urquhart family’s hotel, café, bar and restaurant near the ferry terminal in a fishing town and former herring port on Loch Broom.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Morpeth
This 'excellent, traditional farmhouse B&B', with huge bedrooms, generous hospitality and breakfasts to fuel the day, is now in the capable hands of the family’s second generation of hosts.
2017 Editors Choice Value
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
Cnapan
Newport
With a home-from-home ambience, this Georgian B&B on Newport’s main street is an ideal base from which to explore the Pembrokeshire Coast national park.
The Carpenters Arms
Pensford
Rambling roses and brimming hanging baskets adorn ‘the Carps’, a friendly local pub-with-rooms in a hamlet 25 minutes from Bath.
Grasshoppers
Glasgow
It feels a bit like finding platform 9¾ but trust us: buzz an intercom to enter a grand, buff-stone railway office block by Glasgow Central, ride the lift to the penthouse and step into a cool city hotel.
Newbegin House
Beverley
It is a rare treat to stay in a fine Georgian town house that is still very much a family home, with personal photographs and heirlooms complementing the handsome original features.
The Old Rectory
Boscastle
‘In some of the most beautiful inland scenery in Cornwall,’ Chris and Sally Searle’s B&B is ‘a time capsule of Victorian virtues, rich in associations with Thomas Hardy’.
The Manor Coach House
Worcester
In a ‘peaceful’ rural hamlet near Worcester, Chrissie Mitchell greets guests at her well-cared-for B&B with tea and cake and a warm welcome.
2016 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Hotels on a Budget (formerly Budget, Value)
The Black Swan
Kirkby Stephen
Holding court in the centre of Ravenstonedale, ‘twixt the Lakes and the Dales, The Black Swan has the hallmarks of a much-loved village inn: home-cooked food, cheery atmosphere and comforting bedrooms.
Castleman
Blandford Forum
The Castleman is ceasing as a hotel and restaurant, and will be operating solely as a whole house self-catering property from October 14th 2022.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Morpeth
This 'excellent, traditional farmhouse B&B', with huge bedrooms, generous hospitality and breakfasts to fuel the day, is now in the capable hands of the family’s second generation of hosts.
Ael y Bryn
Crymych
‘Creative and immaculate’ gardens surround this luxury, adults-only B&B in tranquil countryside outside the village of ‘Egg-lis-oo-roo’, with views to the Preseli hills and Carningli mountain.
The Old Store
Chichester
There is a warm welcome in store for guests at this B&B and former 18th-century bakery in a South Downs hamlet on the edge of the Goodwood Estate.