With gilt-framed paintings, a panelled dining room and ‘quiet corners and pretty public spaces to sit and chat in’, the Miller family’s hotel steeps in an ‘old-worldly Edwardian club atmosphere’ in the ‘restless heart of the town’. Despite the traditional feel, time hasn’t stood still: a return visitor was ‘impressed by the improvements they’ve made over the years, including refurbished bathrooms and bedroom decor, and more generous lounge areas’. Guide readers in 2017 praise the attention to detail throughout: the silver-plated teapots, the ‘gleaming brass rails’, the ‘neat period uniforms’ for chambermaids, the ‘very welcome tea’ after a day in town. ‘How splendid that such a place lives on!’ Follow ‘winding corridors’ to the ‘well-appointed bedrooms’ – the quietest overlook a mews at the rear. In the restaurant, the cooking ‘speaks of older, comforting verities’, perhaps roast duck, purple kale, orange and golden raisin sauce. (A set menu is ‘sufficient, and well priced’.) At an ‘extensive, tasty breakfast’, find ‘good healthy options and plenty of cooked delights’. (Keith Salway, Max Lickfold, Ralph G Wilson)