The Cricket Inn

Twisty lanes and steep hills ensure this village inn, with its celebrated seafood and views over Beesands beach on Devon’s south coast, still feels like a wonderful discovery. Despite the inn’s name, it’s the sea that’s the focus here with breezy contemporary interiors in nautical colours, and vintage photographs celebrating Beesands’ fishing heritage dotted around. The airy restaurant, in cool whites and with sea-facing glass sliding doors, serves ‘delicious and imaginatively cooked’ locally caught seafood, such as crab soup, seafood pancake and fish pie, as well as traditional fish and chips. A Josper grill turns out steaks and vegetarian dishes, too. When the weather’s fine, take a table on the roadside terrace. New England-style bedrooms – most with sea views, three for families – are fresh in blues and whites with tongue-and-groove panelling and nautical nods in rope-framed mirrors and jolly ship’s wheels. Bathrooms have walk-in showers. The Heath family ensure a friendly welcome while the South West Coast Path, which runs past the door, helps you work up an appetite for dinner, perhaps preceded by a local ale or cider.