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.
2018 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Lake Isle - D,B&B Third Night Free Special Offer
Uppingham
Arise and go now, and go to Uppingham, to find this ‘delightful hotel in a delightful town’, its poetic name recalling WB Yeats’s yearning for the peace of Innisfree.
Frog Street Farmhouse
Hatch Beauchamp
Somerset born and Somerset bred, Louise and David Farrance have run their B&B in this wisteria-hung 15th-century Somerset longhouse for nearly ten years.
Cnapan
Newport
In a ‘fantastic area to explore’, between the Preseli hills and Pembrokeshire national park, this ‘exceptionally friendly and welcoming’ guest house was first listed in the Guide more than 30 years ago.
The Ceilidh Place
Ullapool
‘Everything is done with a smile and a bit of banter’ at Jean Urquhart’s ‘warm and welcoming’ bookshop-with-rooms, formed from a clutch of whitewashed cottages in this old fishing village.
The Black Swan
Ravenstonedale
‘Warm and friendly’, and ‘good value’ to boot, Louise Dinnes’s Victorian pub-with-rooms stands in a conservation village surrounded by a national parkland of windswept fells.
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.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Longhorsley
‘Take time to admire the sheep’, and much more besides, at this creeper-smothered Georgian farmhouse on an organic farm on the River Coquet.
Trelaske Hotel & Restaurant
Looe
An ‘enchanting, peaceful place’ surrounded by wild flower meadows, trees and wildlife, Hazel Billington and Ross Lewin’s ‘friendly’ hotel continues to charm Guide readers.
Dalshian House
Pitlochry
Vibrant Victorian Pitlochry offers many diversions, but to escape the bustle, head for Martin and Heather Walls’s guest house, a ‘beautiful’ Georgian house on the outskirts of town.
2017 Editors Choice Value
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Cnapan
Newport
In a ‘fantastic area to explore’, between the Preseli hills and Pembrokeshire national park, this ‘exceptionally friendly and welcoming’ guest house was first listed in the Guide more than 30 years ago.
The Carpenter’s Arms
Stanton Wick
In a ‘very quiet’ Chew Valley hamlet criss-crossed by public footpaths ideal for a ramble, this ‘most appealing’ inn is ‘a good base and a real bargain’, say Guide readers this year.
The Old Rectory
Boscastle
Literary pilgrims follow narrow single-track lanes to this Victorian rectory in a ‘magical setting’ in the Valency valley, where Thomas Hardy met and courted his first wife, Emma Gifford.
Eight Clarendon Crescent
Leamington Spa
‘Lively hosts’ Christine and David Lawson ‘delight in sharing their space’, a ‘peaceful’ Regency villa near the town centre.
Sea Mist House
Clifden
There’s a ‘relaxed atmosphere’ and ‘a sense of lightness and warmth’ at Sheila Griffin’s ‘characterful’ B&B, in a heritage town between the Atlantic and the Twelve Bens.
Grasshoppers
Glasgow
A sprightly hop, skip and jump from Central Station, this good-value, design-led hotel is ‘an excellent choice’ in the busy centre.
Newbegin House
Beverley
‘A welcoming home-away-from-home’, Nuala and Walter Sweeney’s ‘remarkable’ B&B is but one of the ‘delightful pleasures of the lovely town’.
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.
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.
The Manor Coach House
Worcester
‘Upgrade! Upgrade!’ In 2016, trusted Guide correspondents exuberantly called for a full entry for Sylvia and Terry Smith’s welcoming B&B, in ‘a lovely rural location’ close to the town centre and Worcester cathedral.
2016 Editor's Choice Value Hotels
Editor’s Choice Value Hotels
Castleman - Midweek Special Offer
Chettle
‘Set in large gardens, this lovely old house feels like a big family home, with many pictures, books and magazines.’
The Nobody Inn
Doddiscombsleigh
Pile in for the jolly quiz night, or sample one of the whiskies from an astonishing collection at Sue Burdge’s 17th-century dwelling house–turned–lively village pub-with-rooms.
The Black Swan
Ravenstonedale
‘Warm and friendly’, and ‘good value’ to boot, Louise Dinnes’s Victorian pub-with-rooms stands in a conservation village surrounded by a national parkland of windswept fells.
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 Old Store
Halnaker
In a pretty hamlet close to Goodwood, this former bakery and village store is run as a B&B by ‘accommodating, thoughtful hosts’ Heather and Patrick Birchenough.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Longhorsley
‘Take time to admire the sheep’, and much more besides, at this creeper-smothered Georgian farmhouse on an organic farm on the River Coquet.
Ael y Bryn
Eglwyswrw
‘Consummate hosts’ Robert Smith and Arwel Hughes run their peaceful B&B against the ‘superb backdrop’ of the Preseli mountains.
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.