The Sun Inn

This 400-year-old inn in a market town between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales comes with beams, exposed stonework and a five-foot bedroom doorway but has been carefully updated with a modern touch. Step through the whitewashed portico into the large bar with its wood-burning stove, and there’s a ‘warm welcome’ and ‘lovely wine’. Everything feels ‘cosy but uncluttered’, with light, country colours and Windsor chairs, while the dining area has exposed-stone and claret-red walls. Bedrooms, gradually being refurbished, are mostly on the small side but are stylish with handmade furniture, local artwork and jolly checks and tartans. Some have window seats. Bright-white bathrooms, some with a freestanding bath, are stocked with sweet-smelling soaps from local producer Bath House. The ‘amazing’ food is modern British, with dishes such as herb fishcakes, lamb with smoked mash, and a rhubarb dessert with ‘just the right texture and a pleasing amount of tartness’. Breakfast’s ‘generous’ buffet is followed by well-prepared hot dishes. ‘Despite the church clock chiming through the night, we would happily stay again.’