These hotels give you value for money without compromising on standards. Our editors have selected cheap boutique hotels and B&Bs across the UK that ooze luxury, but don’t cost the earth. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when the bill comes.
Best Value Hotels
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Little Sark
‘Paradise,’ write readers on their ‘umpteenth’ stay at this rose-smothered, whitewashed hotel on a tiny, car-free island.
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Kirkby Stephen
In this small conservation village, with views to the Howgill fells, this large country pub is as much a locals’ favourite as an inn with smart food and bedrooms.
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New Romney
With a superb sea view amid the elemental landscape of Romney Marsh, haunt of both writers and smugglers, this 1920s mansion was built by Clough Williams-Ellis.
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Pitlochry
Ironwork sculptures adorn the wide lawn that borders Loch Faskally at the McMenemie family’s extended Victorian country house, along with waterside seating areas.
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Austwick
The high number of returning guests speaks volumes about the warm welcome, quiet luxury and generous comforts of this country house hotel, set amid glorious Dales walking country.
Stoberry House
Wells
‘Superbly positioned, with stunning views to the cathedral and the Somerset country beyond, Glastonbury Tor in the distance.
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Malvern wells
High in the Malvern hills, this refurbished Georgian dower house has ‘stunning’ views over the Severn valley.
Aynsome Manor
Grange-over-Sands
In wooded grounds in a valley looking over farmland to pretty Cartmel village, this 400-year-old manor house, long owned and run by the Varley family, offers reassuringly traditional comforts.
Lake Isle
Uppingham
Satisfied diners have been coming for years to this restaurant-with-rooms in the heart of the pretty market town.
Cnapan
Newport
‘How could a simple family home on a narrow, bustling high street possibly work as a popular guest house? Step inside Cnapan and you quickly find out.
Argyll Hotel
Isle of Iona
Set amid the splendid isolation of a sparsely populated Hebridean island, this small 19th-century hotel is a few minutes’ walk from the ferry, and has magnificent views across the Sound of Iona to Mull.
The Ceilidh Place
Ullapool
With bookshop and bar, coffee shop, restaurant and events space, the Urquhart family’s hotel in a fishing village on Loch Broom hums with activity.
The Lynch Country House
Somerton
Crowned with a belvedere, jazz musician Roy Copeland’s creeper-covered Georgian house stands in a lush, secluded spot on the edge of a market town.
Biggin Hall
Buxton
With a ‘spectacular location’ in a small village high in the White Peak landscape, James Moffett’s Grade II* listed manor house with its stone floors, oak beams and mullioned windows also offers ‘excellent value for money’.
Ees Wyke Country House
Ambleside
More guest house than hotel, this Georgian country house overlooking Esthwaite Water has the feel of a comfortable family home, a bit lived-in – and what an outlook.
Penbontbren
Llandysul
Richard Morgan-Price and Huw Thomas are personable hosts at their dog-friendly B&B with a difference, in gardens and grounds with views to the Preseli hills.
Eddrachilles Hotel
Scourie
Eddrachilles Hotel is currently closed.
Castleman
Blandford Forum
Change is afoot at this former dower house, which opened as a hotel in 1996 under Barbara Garnsworthy, in an estate village of thatched limestone cottages amid the rolling chalk downs of Cranborne Chase.
The Pierhouse
Port Appin
Situated ‘well off the beaten track’, this former home of a piermaster is a ‘relaxed and friendly’ lochside bolt-hole, known for its seafood restaurant.
Blackmore Farm
Cannington
Gazing upon the Quantock hills, Ann and Ian Dyer’s 15th-century, red sandstone manor house B&B on the family farm is redolent of history.
Underleigh House
Hope
‘We felt as if we had been invited to stay with friends,’ says one reviewer of this welcoming B&B in the heart of Jane Eyre country.
Beechwood Hotel
North Walsham
‘A bright spot’ in a north Norfolk market town, Emma and Hugh Asher’s hotel is also something of a night spot, with a rolling programme of events: taster nights, comedy nights, murder mystery nights (a nod to Agatha Christie, who stayed often when this was a private house), and South African Nights (to celebrate Hugh’s native land).
The Old Store
Chichester
It may have lost its old store, but a pretty village on Goodwood’s doorstep has an excellent B&B instead.
The Howard Arms
Stratford-upon-Avon
Overlooking the green in a Cotswolds village, and decked with hanging baskets, this pretty pub-with-rooms was in the doldrums before two local families took it on and spruced it up.
The Old Rectory
Boscastle
The old rector was none other than the great-grandfather of Sally Searle, who, with husband Chris, welcomes guests to their loved and lived-in Victorian home.
The Sun Inn
Colchester
In the heart of Constable country, Piers Baker’s 14th-century inn is ‘what pubs were meant to look like’, from the eye-catching sign outside to the beamed ceilings and wooden floors within.
Britannia House
Lymington
Trusted readers this year ‘greatly enjoyed’ this ‘small and quirky hotel’ overlooking one of three marinas in a historic New Forest coastal town.
Thistleyhaugh Farm
Morpeth
Sadly we have just heard that this fine example of a traditional farmhouse B&B: huge and comfortable bedrooms and generous hospitality has closed its doors and is no longer welcoming guests.
Y Goeden Eirin
Caernarfon
Sandwiched between Snowdonia and the Menai estuary, this B&B in a converted granite cowshed celebrates both its Welsh heritage and its eco credentials.
The Old Vicarage
Newtown
Ideally situated for exploring Powis Castle or foodie Ludlow, this red brick Victorian vicarage stands back from the winding A484 in the Welsh Marches, looking over rolling pastures to the Shropshire hills.
The Beckford Arms
Tisbury
With Beckford Phoenix ale on tap, ‘top-quality’ cooking, and bedrooms with Welsh blankets and seagrass floor covering, this sophisticated pub at the edge of the Fonthill Estate in the Nadder valley is the perfect synthesis of traditional and contemporary.
94DR
Edinburgh
‘My only disappointment was that my stay had to come to an end,’ says a more than satisfied guest at this personable guest house on Southside’s Dalkeith Road.
Brooks Guesthouse
Bristol
A stroll from the harbour and Old Vic, Carla and Andrew Brooks’s imaginative conversion of a 1950s office block impressed our inspectors this year.
Dolffanog Fawr
Tywyn
Few guest houses have as magnificent a mise en scène as this one in Snowdonia, set among pretty lawned gardens, with views across sheep-filled pastures to Tal-y-llyn lake and Cader Idris.
Grasshoppers
Glasgow
A recent guest describes this modern, style-conscious and budget-friendly penthouse hotel, next to Glasgow Central Station, as a ‘great find’.
Ael y Bryn
Crymych
Year after year we receive rave reviews from readers extolling both house and hosts at Robert Smith and Arwel Hughes’s modern, single-storey B&B with beautifully tended gardens, gazing out to the Preseli hills.
The Talbot Inn
Mells
Take a historic village inn, then reinvent it as a dining-pub-with-rooms, in shabby-chic style, for the modern era.
Coll Hotel
Isle of Coll
Seafaring readers anchored at Arinagour to seek a shower and dinner at the social hub of ‘a beautiful island with spectacular beaches, dark-sky park and wonderful wildlife’.
The Royal Oak
Tetbury
With a free jukebox, Art Deco piano, loyalty cards and children’s menus, this dog-friendly 18th-century inn is truly a community hub.
Dunkery Beacon Country House
Wootton Courtenay
This Edwardian hunting lodge with a veranda from which to gaze out to the highest point on Exmoor, or at the starry black sky, is today a ‘delightful, well-managed’ hotel, run by owners John and Jane Bradley.
Hotels not in the Guide that you may want to consider
Best Value Hotels
Hotel du Vin & Bistro Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells
Close to the station, a hotel and restaurant inside a Grade II-listed 18th-century sandstone mansion. Intimate and clubby, there is an open fire in the bar, and Gallic-influenced dishes in the informal restaurant; alfresco dining on the terrace. Modern bedrooms (some overlooking Calverley Park) have plenty of perks: a capsule coffee machine, fluffy bathrobes, chic toiletries for indulgent bathing. Within walking distance of the Pantiles.
Chatford House
Shrewsbury
Christine and Rupert Farmer offer guests a slice of the good life at their B&B on a small organic farm – and greet them with a piece of home-baked cake. Close to the Shropshire Way, the 18th-century farmhouse has cottage-style bedrooms full of spoiling touches: fresh flowers, magazines, and a regularly topped-up hospitality tray. In each, views of the pretty garden or towards the Wrekin.
The Bull and Swan at Burghley
Stamford
In the late 17th century, the Honourable Order of Little Bedlam (an aristocratic drinking club) rampaged through this coaching inn – today an altogether more upstanding crowd come for the modern pub grub, cinema nights and the garden’s ‘pizza potting shed’ (open on warm-weather weekends). Characterful bedrooms mix vintage furnishings and modern conveniences. Some have exposed stones or feature wallpaper, perhaps an original fireplace, mullioned window.
The Belmont
Leicester
On leafy New Walk, this welcoming family-owned town hotel is formed from a row of Victorian residences. It is within easy reach of the city and station, the King Richard III Visitor Centre and the University.
Grendon
Buxton
Wonderful views, luxury extras and home-baked treats – on a quiet road within walking distance of the town centre, this B&B in an Edwardian property has an immaculate modern interior and welcoming hosts.
The Bijou
Harrogate
Within easy walking distance of the town centre and railway station, this small B&B in a Victorian villa tempts with an honesty bar, pleasant front garden; private parking is an added bonus.
Brownber Hall
Kirkby Stephen
With its quirky hipster vibe, thoughtful touches and soul-stirring views of the Howgills, this Victorian country house has charmed many readers.
Pairc an t-Srath
Isle of Harris
On the west coast of Harris, Lena and Richard MacLennan’s small guest house overlooks Borve’s golden sand beach, and has views over the sound of Taransay. Simply and unfussily done, without compromising comfort. Harris tweed blankets drape the bed in the neat, wood-floored bedrooms; fresh flowers and shelves of books bring interest to a sitting room warmed by a peat fire. A surprising touch: a sauna in which to ease tired muscles after a day exploring the island.
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