The Castle Hotel

Built on the site of a Norman Marcher lord’s castle, this 18th-century former coaching inn has dreamy views to the south Shropshire hills, as blue and memorable as you please. Like parent venture Pen-y-Dyffryn, Oswestry (see entry), it delights our readers. ‘We have fallen in love with the hotel,’ writes one. ‘The setting is rather impressive.’ Walkers are in their element (the Shropshire Way runs through the ‘delightful little town’; Offa’s Dyke is nearby). A welcome box awaits freeloading doggy guests who book ahead. Bedrooms are smart, contemporary and characterful. Two have an in-room bath. A new ground-floor suite with bath and walk-in shower is in the Elephant Gate House, a former stable, so named because it housed homeless circus elephants in WW2 (not because Clive of India once owned the inn – the elephant in the room). You can eat and drink in one of the bars with fire or log-burner, in the restaurant or outside, enjoying the vistas. The evening menu appeals 
to all tastes, with burgers, steaks, vegan options. The staff are ‘highly professional and passionate about being part of a happy team’. (Jane Parkinson, and others)