A 17th-century mellow stone building overlooking the ‘broad way’ with its cafés, antique shops and milling tourists, is run as a well-regarded restaurant-with-rooms by Andrew and Gaynor Riley. The building once served as the workshop of furniture designer Sir Gordon Russell, and guests have free access to the design museum set up in his name. An oak-panelled staircase, built by Russell himself, leads to some of the bedrooms (two are on the ground floor). Some have beams, bare stone walls, a sloping ceiling, leaded windows. The best is huge, with a separate sitting area, whirlpool bath and walk-through shower, ceiling spots, a hurricane lantern. All are ‘rather special in their own way’, with a natural stone bathroom complete with robes and smart toiletries. In the kitchen, former senior sous-chef George (Jorge) Santos has been promoted to head chef, cooking a daily-changing menu of local produce. Typical dishes, stone bass, smoked bone marrow arancini, savoy cabbage, spätzle, black tiger prawn, shellfish bisque – or a vegetarian option, Evesham butternut squash, violet potato and spinach tart, roasted mixed squash, pumpkin purée, toasted seeds. Breakfast is ‘cooked well and accurately’.