Cleveland Tontine Shortlist*

A once-upon-a-time travellers’ inn, this Victorian house is today a ‘comfortable, modern’ hotel with ‘decadent’ bedrooms and ‘delicious’ food. ‘Quirky and individual’, it is now part of the Provenance Inns group (along with sister hotel The Carpenters Arms, Felixkirk, see main entry). Bedrooms are individually styled, some with ‘dramatic’ wallpaper; all have ‘good-quality’ drinks, home-made shortbread, magazines. ‘Ours, warm and comfortable, had a barley-twist bed, a desk, two ’60s-style swivel chairs, a wardrobe with ample hanging space; a spacious bathroom. Secondary glazing did a good job soundproofing the room from the A19.’ ‘Bistro favourites are handled with flair’ in the candlelit dining room divided by a ‘wonderful’ stone fireplace; at breakfast, served on mix-and-match vintage crockery in the ‘splendid, light-filled’ drawing room, find leaf tea, local sausages, ‘toast thickly sliced from a proper loaf’. Lounge, bar, bistro. Function rooms, private dining. Free Wi-Fi, in-room TV (Freeview). Background music. Room service. Garden. Parking. 8 miles NE of Northallerton. Children welcomed (cot £10; extra bed £20 for children under 14). 7 bedrooms. Per room B&B from £130, D,B&B from £210. Dinner £45.