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.
2019 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Aynsome Manor
Grange-over-Sands
Warm hospitality, centuries-old architecture and ‘beautiful countryside’ again delighted loyal fans of this ‘exceptionally good-value oasis of peace and tranquillity.’
The Ceilidh Place
ULLAPOOL
There’s ‘a good night’s sleep’ and more at Jean Urquhart’s ‘lively’ Ceilidh Place – a popular fusion of cultural hub, bookshop and small hotel, one street back from the ferry terminal.
Brooks Country House
ROSS-ON-WYE
Overlooking National Trust parkland, this Georgian country house has ‘a real sense of grandeur’, say inspectors in 2018.
The Black Swan
KIRKBY STEPHEN
A babbling brook etches a course past Louise Dinnes’s ‘good-value, thoroughly dependable’ Victorian pub-with-rooms, where visitors find ‘outstanding food’ and ‘welcoming, efficient service’.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
MORPETH
‘Wonderful location in rural Northumberland. Friendly, peaceful; superb dinners and a lovely breakfast.’
Dolffanog Fawr
TYWYN
With Tal-y-llyn lake practically in the back garden, Cadair Idris behind, and ‘some of the finest walks in any national park’, Alex Yorke and Lorraine Hinkins’s Snowdonia B&B wins praise again this year.
No. 33
HUNSTANTON
On a quiet residential street a stroll from the sea in a Victorian resort town, Jeanne Whittome’s boutique B&B impressed readers with its ‘bold, contemporary style’.
Killiane Castle Country House and Farm
DRINAGH
‘A beautiful place with great hosts.’ Guide readers ‘highly recommend’ this well-located former Norman castle-turned-farmhouse-turned-country guest house in Ireland’s Ancient East.
The Old Rectory at Stewton
LOUTH
Guests in 2018 praise the ‘outstanding hospitality and attention to detail at this gem of a B&B’.
Trereife
PENZANCE
An Elizabethan farmhouse remodelled in the reign of Queen Anne, 'Treeve' has been home to the Le Grice family since 1796.
2018 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Lake Isle - D,B&B Third Night Free Special Offer
UPPINGHAM
The food is the main course at Janine and Richard Burton’s restaurant-with-rooms. ‘How I wish we had a restaurant anywhere near as good as this where I live now,’ writes a regular reader this year, after returning to her old Rutland haunt.
Frog Street Farmhouse
HATCH BEAUCHAMP
‘Such a peaceful, quiet place to stay. The log fire was lit ready for our arrival.’ A new endorsement this year for ‘perfect hosts’ David and Louise Farrance’s wisteria-festooned B&B.
Cnapan
FISHGUARD
Friendly and welcoming as ever, this B&B is run by second-generation owners Michael and Judith Cooper, and their son, Oliver.
The Ceilidh Place
ULLAPOOL
There’s ‘a good night’s sleep’ and more at Jean Urquhart’s ‘lively’ Ceilidh Place – a popular fusion of cultural hub, bookshop and small hotel, one street back from the ferry terminal.
The Black Swan
KIRKBY STEPHEN
A babbling brook etches a course past Louise Dinnes’s ‘good-value, thoroughly dependable’ Victorian pub-with-rooms, where visitors find ‘outstanding food’ and ‘welcoming, efficient service’.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
MORPETH
‘Wonderful location in rural Northumberland. Friendly, peaceful; superb dinners and a lovely breakfast.’
Trelaske Hotel & Restaurant
LOOE
Hazel Billington and Ross Lewin are the ‘excellent hosts’ of this ‘absolutely fantastic hotel’ that has guests returning year after year. ‘The standard remains high every time we visit.’
Dalshian House
PITLOCHRY
Martin and Heather Walls’s white-painted Georgian guest house feels ‘blissfully remote’ – robins and red squirrels in the ‘peaceful’ surrounding woodland are your only neighbours – but it is within easy distance of bustling Pitlochry.
The Nag’s Head
PICKHILL
Janet and Edward Boynton’s 19th-century coaching inn between moors and dales is roundly endorsed by Guide readers, who praise its ‘hospitable, interesting owners’, ‘enjoyable dinners’, ‘relaxing atmosphere’ and ‘excellent value’.
Inch House
THURLES
‘Warm and charming in its small-scale grandeur’, the Egan family’s Georgian mansion sits amid a cereals farm in Tipperary countryside.
2017 Editors Choice Value
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Cnapan
FISHGUARD
Friendly and welcoming as ever, this B&B is run by second-generation owners Michael and Judith Cooper, and their son, Oliver.
The Carpenter’s Arms
PENSFORD
A row of former miners’ pantiled cottages combines into a rambling, ‘appealing’ country inn in a picturesque setting where, regulars report, ‘generous portions’ and ‘generous hospitality’ come as standard.
The Old Rectory
BOSCASTLE
‘What a super place to stay for tackling some of the Coastal Path; it ticks all possible boxes,’ writes a Guide inspector in 2018 of Sally and Chris Searle’s historic B&B.
Sea Mist House
CLIFDEN
A knock at the cherry-red door to this ‘characterful’ B&B is answered by ‘warm, inherently hospitable’ Sheila Griffin.
Grasshoppers
GLASGOW
If you’re looking for a modestly priced hotel at the heart of the city, this is just the ticket – a modern B&B on the penthouse floor of a handsome, buff stone, 1900s office building, right by Central Station.
Newbegin House
BEVERLEY
‘Perfect hosts’ Nuala and Walter Sweeney clearly enjoy welcoming guests to their ‘beautiful Georgian house’ in a market town dominated by its sublime Gothic minster.
The Manor Coach House
WORCESTER
In ‘a lovely rural location’ yet within easy reach of the town centre and Worcester cathedral, Chrissie Mitchell's ‘spotless' and 'very reasonable' B&B is ‘surrounded by delight’.
Bealach House
DUROR
Along a rough track ‘with not a sign of habitation’, Jim and Hilary McFadyen have posted encouraging notices (‘You’re on the right road!’) to arriving guests. ‘You wonder if there’s anything at the end; what you find is a lovely white house in a very pretty garden,’ say Guide inspectors in 2016.
Eight Clarendon Crescent
LEAMINGTON SPA
‘Lively hosts’ Christine and David Lawson ‘delight in sharing their space’, a ‘peaceful’ Regency villa near the town centre.
The Silverton
SHREWSBURY
Just over the Welsh Bridge from the historic town centre, David Cheshire and Donna Miles’s ‘excellent-value’ restaurant-with-rooms is liked for its ‘great, friendly service’ and ‘modern, almost minimalist’ rooms.
2016 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Castleman - Midweek Special Offer
BLANDFORD FORUM
‘Set in a period property, this hotel pampers its clients like friends, and captures an age of country house hospitality,’ write readers this year, of Barbara Garnsworthy’s former dower house in a feudal village.
The Nobody Inn
EXETER
A ‘time capsule of ancient England’, Sue Burdge’s venerable former dwelling house has been the village pub and hub since 1837.
The Black Swan
KIRKBY STEPHEN
A babbling brook etches a course past Louise Dinnes’s ‘good-value, thoroughly dependable’ Victorian pub-with-rooms, where visitors find ‘outstanding food’ and ‘welcoming, efficient service’.
The Old Store
CHICHESTER
Behind a ‘gorgeous, checkerboard red-brick-and-stone facade’, in a hamlet a mile from Goodwood and ‘an easy, breezy drive from Chichester’, the former village grocer’s shop is run as a friendly B&B.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
MORPETH
‘Wonderful location in rural Northumberland. Friendly, peaceful; superb dinners and a lovely breakfast.’
Ael y Bryn
EGLWYSWRW
‘Ten gold stars’ glitter among a constellation of guests’ praise for the ‘wonderful’ B&B with its ‘aura of tranquillity’ and views over the Preseli hills.
The Nag’s Head
PICKHILL
Janet and Edward Boynton’s 19th-century coaching inn between moors and dales is roundly endorsed by Guide readers, who praise its ‘hospitable, interesting owners’, ‘enjoyable dinners’, ‘relaxing atmosphere’ and ‘excellent value’.
The Abbey House
ABBOTSBURY
In a ‘glorious position’ on the fringes of a historic coastal Dorset village, this traditional B&B has long been run by the ‘most welcoming’ Jonathan and Maureen Cooke.