Talland Bay Hotel

There are, ‘quite literally’, fairies at the bottom of the garden at Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s ‘friendly’ clifftop hotel, on a ‘remote’ country road ‘with spectacular views of the sea’. ‘A welcoming spot with happy, smiley staff, it has a stylish sense of quirk and humour, all tastefully done. There’s lots of artwork throughout, and plenty of outside seating areas to admire the view,’ say Guide inspectors in 2016. No two bedrooms are the same – some are ‘up different staircases’, others are in cottages; one, accessed through the dining room, ‘was remarkably convenient when it came to meals’. A ‘New England-style’ sea-view room is ‘lovely and light, with chairs to sit in, cup of tea in hand, by the windows’. Another, ‘warm and comfortable’, has a ‘huge’ claw-footed bath in the ‘large’ bathroom, ‘but the bedroom blinds didn’t keep out the lights left on in the car park all night’. Eat in: ‘The food was wonderful, and served in generous portions – lots of fish, an amuse-bouche at the start and a palate-cleanser at the end.’ (Suzanne Lyons, and others)