Where does one find sanctuary in the middle of town? At the end of a discreet lane behind the main street. Les and Vanessa Scott’s playful, Palladian-style house is all comfort and bonhomie. A pair of preening cats at the door signals that you’re in the right place. ‘In the sitting area, a wonderfully mad chandelier hangs above arresting, eclectic pieces of art.’ The ‘cordial, welcoming staff’ are managed by Hannah and Dominic Hughes, the Scotts’ daughter and her husband. The ‘imaginative’ bedrooms, spread across the main house and converted outbuildings, are equal parts quirky and practical. One has a Moroccan-style tented ceiling, another a cinema screen and film collection. ‘Our comfortable ground-floor suite had an attractive bedroom and sitting room (the walls were amusingly decorated with dog silhouettes), but the deep bathtub in the bathroom was best suited to mountaineers.’ In the award-winning basement restaurant, Jules Hetherton whips up modern British dinners based on local, seasonal and ethical produce, while ‘tiny, bustling’ CoCoes deli serves lunch of ‘rightly famous’ fishcakes with ‘an exceptional fennel slaw’. (MAS, and others)