The Lygon Arms

An impressive list of famous guests, including both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, have stayed at this rambling Tudor coaching inn with beams and inglenooks, panelled walls and leaded windows. Edward VII motored down in 1905. Evelyn Waugh visited, and no doubt revisited. It was in the doldrums when Iconic Luxury Hotels (see also Chewton Glen, New Milton, and Cliveden House, Taplow) came to the rescue in 2017. Today it offers a wide choice of accommodation, from doubles furnished with antiques and paintings to four-poster suites. Modern, airy courtyard suites open on to landscaped terraced gardens. Despite refurbishment and redesign of the ‘wonderful building’, adding a spa and a 13-metre indoor pool, a reader noted a chipped bath, and reported that ‘the air con sounded like Concorde’. The ambience is family-friendly. You can take tea by the fire or alfresco, order panini and pizzette in the wine bar, or dine on such classics as fish and chips or beef Wellington in the Grill, its walls crammed with historic portraits. ‘Our meal was fine. Italian friends were astonished by the natural beauty of the surroundings and loved the place.’ (Jonathan Rose, and others)