In an 'interesting village of honey-coloured stone, well off the beaten track', a beautifully renovated 17th-century thatched inn lives anew as a local gastropub-with-rooms. Manager Claire Lenkowiec and chef Valerio Grimaldi-Plant run the show for the owners and, by George, they get it right! Three chic bedrooms above the pub and six in converted stables have smart bathrooms with underfloor heating, a coffee machine, handmade truffles and botanical toiletries. Dog-friendly garden rooms, one fully accessible, open directly on to terrace and garden. In a beamed, flagstone-floored bar frequented by locals, horse brasses and Buddy Holly prints hang over the inglenook where a log-burner blazes. Fifties film posters and George V in ermine grace the walls. The mix of pub classics and blackboard specials on the menu are 'excellent' and there are 'delicious home-made brownies', according to our inspectors. You can eat in the dining room or on the all-weather terrace. Breakfast brings fresh pastries, butcher's sausages, sourdough toast, local jams, porridge with Transylvanian acacia honey.