Good Hotel Guide Review
‘It’s a good thing it’s not my local or I’d be there all the time,’ said our inspector of this ‘practically perfect pub-with-rooms’ four miles from the Arcadian landscape of Stourhead. Co-owner James Thurstan Waterworth (formerly of hip Soho House) has created ‘a highly styled version of ye olde village inn within a handsome Victorian building’, mixing bare floorboards and flagstones with ‘rugs and kilims, Farrow & Ball colours, striped armchairs by a wood-burner, striking modern art’. Bedrooms have individual quirks and flourishes. ‘Ours came with a stripy fabric headboard and jute carpet, a compact, sleek, sexy bathroom with aubergine and black tiles and powerful shower.’ Annexe rooms are generally larger. In the dining room, with candles from Charles Farris, the Queen’s chandler, the food didn’t quite measure up. ‘The roasted tomato and chilli soup was fine, but some bread would have been nice.’ A halibut dish was overcooked, and why the lack of vegetables when they make much of the fresh and seasonal produce they take from community gardens and allotments? Still, ‘the air was relaxed and welcoming’ and ‘I did say it was “practically” perfect’.
Hotel details
Address
Church Street
Maiden Bradley
Warminster
Wiltshire
BA12 7HW
England
Telephone
01985 801018
Bedrooms
12. 5 in coach house.
Open
all year, closed Sun pm, Mon, 25/26 Dec.
Facilities
bar, library/snug, dining room, function room, skittle alley, in-room TV, garden, main restaurant, bar wheelchair accessible.
Background music
ambient, in pub, dining room.
Children
all ages welcomed, under-16s must be accompanied by adult, free cots, small charge for extra bed.
Dogs
allowed in annexe rooms by arrangement (bowls, treats, possible small charge for cleaning), pub, garden, not in dining room.
Credit cards
Amex, MC, Visa.
Prices
room-only doubles from £135 (incl. continental breakfast). Cooked breakfast from £12. 1-night bookings usually refused at weekends, but check for availability.