Swan House

The ‘lovely, warm atmosphere’ at Lionel Copley and Brendan McDonagh’s elegant B&B puts guests in ‘a good mood’, say Guide inspectors in 2016. Most days, the door of the Tudor cottage might be opened by ‘Harriet – young, very friendly, no shoes; this is a relaxed place’. Enter into the open-plan breakfast room and lounge (books, inglenook fireplace, linen-covered sofas); all but one of the ‘pleasing’ bedrooms are upstairs. ‘Our beamed room, its floors gently sloping, overlooked St Clement’s church. It had a window seat, an antique mirror-fronted wardrobe, blueberry flapjacks in a jar. There was crisp linen on the bed; good lamps, tumblers and two flasks of water. Absolutely quiet at night.’ The host, ‘welcoming and likeable’, has plenty of suggestions for dinner (The Crown, a five-minute walk away, is ‘exceptionally good’). Breakfast is served at tables laid with ‘little bowls of jam and marmalade, butter, linen napkins, a small vase of flowers’. ‘Brendan brought a cafetière of coffee and glass bowls of Greek yogurt; orange juice was freshly squeezed, the scrambled eggs very good.’ Permits are provided for car parks a short walk away.