10 of the perfect lodges in Britain and Eire

Forty years in the past, an article within the Observer by literary agent Hilary Rubinstein gave delivery to The Good Resort Information. Readers responded with such enthusiasm to his plea for suggestions that the primary version had greater than 300 entries. Since then, the hospitality business has gone by way of radical change. The phrase “boutique” was unknown, lodge meals was often dire, gastropubs unprecedented, kids and canine unwelcome and the web a thriller recognized solely to a handful of boffins.

What has not modified is the information’s ethos. We don’t settle for hospitality or cost for an entry within the print version, inspections are nameless, and opinions from readers stay the lifeblood of the information. “You’ll be able to corrupt one man, you’ll be able to’t bribe a military” was Raymond Postgate’s philosophy when he arrange The Good Meals Information. That’s our philosophy, too.

What makes an amazing lodge? The 10 lodges and B&Bs I’ve chosen to have a good time the information’s 40th anniversary will not be simply excellent; they’ve set the tempo for a brand new technology of hoteliers. They vary from price range to pricier, however all stand out for his or her character and attraction. They’re all locations I’d love to return to.

Sheer consolation

Resort Endsleigh, Milton Abbot, Devon
Olga Polizzi, the daughter of Charles Forte, has hotel-keeping in her DNA. Her Regency fishing lodge, constructed for the Duchess of Bedford, stands in 100 acres of Arcadian parkland created by Humphry Repton, with champion bushes, a fountain and follies, the UK’s longest herbaceous border, and the River Tamar working by way of the grounds. Its laid-back luxurious captured me inside minutes. The interiors have an elegant simplicity, with antiques, contemporary flowers and log fires. Chef Jose Graziosi cooks fashionable dishes with native produce – maybe sea bream, parmesan gnocchi, crab bisque. B&B from £190 (hotelendsleigh.com)

Previous-world attraction

Burgh Island, Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon

If you happen to fancy a swim, there may be a tremendous pure rock pool along side the lodge

For sheer romanticism, this units a excessive customary and solely these with a coronary heart of metal may resist. I actually couldn’t, although I did not placed on the required black tie for dinner. Deborah Clark and Anthony Orchard’s artwork deco extravaganza is berthed like an ocean liner on a tidal island off the Devon coast. It has entertained such company as Edward VIII and Nancy Cunard. A sea tractor ferries guests there by way of the waves. Cocktails are served beneath a glass ceiling within the bar, a proper dinner is held within the ballroom, with a reside band two nights every week. You’ll be able to go for a pint on the 14th-century Pilchard Inn and keep within the Seashore Home, the place Agatha Christie wrote two of her whodunnits. If you happen to fancy a swim, there’s a tremendous pure rock pool along side the lodge. Dinner and B&B from £400 (burghisland.com)

Nice worth

The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool, Highland

Jean Urquhart’s lodge, café-bar, music venue and bookshop occupies a run of whitewashed cottages in a fishing village on Loch Broom, warmed by the North Atlantic Drift and a spirit of joie de vivre. There’s a lot to be mentioned for the easy life. The enterprise grew out of a café opened within the 1970s by Jean’s late husband, actor Robert Urquhart, as a spot the place musicians may sing for his or her supper. Effie, the supervisor, and her domestically recruited workers are pleasant and bantering, the environment is bohemian. Rooms are easy and comfy, provided with radio and books. If funds are tight, you’ll be able to tough it with a bunk within the Clubhouse for £24 and eat at a price range worth from the all-day menu. B&B from £132 (theceilidhplace.com)

The quirky B&B

The Previous Railway Station, Petworth, Sussex

This B&B rings my each bell and whistle. Homeowners Gudmund Olafsson and Catherine Stormont spent seven years restoring one among Britain’s most stunning railway stations. Inbuilt 1892, for the Prince of Wales to go to Goodwood, the station fell below Beeching’s axe in 1966, however the visitor right now is transported to a extra elegant age. Test in on the parcels workplace and ascend a spiral staircase to your bed room, or sleep in Pullman carriages with Edwardian fittings. The carriages are surprisingly comfy. Breakfast is served within the station ready room, which is elegantly furnished with leather-based armchairs round an open fireplace, or on the station platform. All that is pure delight for a transport nut like me, however the Previous Railway Station is not only for anoraks. Anybody who’s in any respect nostalgic for the previous can’t fail to be charmed by being transported again in time to a far gentler age. B&B from £130 (old-station.co.uk)

Gastropub with a distinction

Kylesku Resort, Kylesku, Highland

You’ll be able to eat alfresco as seals bask on the rocks and wild stags roam the backyard

In a distant fishing hamlet on the ocean passage, Tanja Lister and Sonia Virechauveix’s small lodge impresses with its mixture of professionalism and informality. A former teaching inn on the shores of Loch Glendu, the lodge overlooks the outdated ferry slipway, which continues to be utilized by creel fishermen. In tremendous climate, you’ll be able to eat alfresco as gray seals bask on the rocks and wild stags roam the rugged backyard. The place else are you able to try this? The bedrooms – a few of that are compact – are in the principle home and in purpose-built Willie’s Hoose; seven have an excellent loch view. The eating room has a satisfying, stripped-down simplicity, with picket floorboards, naked tables and a wood-burning range. The shellfish are a should. Don’t miss the rope-grown mussels or diver-caught scallops. B&B singles from £72, doubles from £110 (kyleskuhotel.co.uk)

City retreat

Artist Residence, Pimlico, London

Charlotte and Justin Salisbury have hit the lodge scene like a rocket with 4 buzzy lodges in London, Brighton, Penzance and Oxfordshire. Their London lodge, located 5 minutes from Victoria Station, in an space of white stucco terraces and backyard squares, is as sharp and welcoming as its good pink and white awning. It has character by the bucketful with a shrewd mixture of public sale finds, unique artwork and recycled industrial supplies. A number of the 10 bedrooms are small, however all have aircon, bespoke and classic furnishings, a Roberts radio, quirky type to make you smile, a totally stocked mini-fridge, typically an espresso machine and, maybe, a rain bathe or roll-top bathtub. Locals pile in for Sunday brunch or for cocktails within the basement bar below a ceiling of tin tiles. If you happen to fancy a recreation of ping-pong there’s a desk within the Membership Room. It’s a wonderfully casual place to remain. Rooms from £210, breakfast from £eight (artistresidencelondon.co.uk)

Household values

Ballymaloe Home, Shanagarry, County Cork

That is one among solely 4 lodges which have had an entry in each version of the information – a outstanding achievement. Inns run by the identical household for generations are uncommon and Ballymaloe units a excessive customary. I particularly like its uncommercial spirit. What different lodge would have an area artist blocking a bed room hall for a complete weekend as he accomplished a mural? It’s greater than half a century since Myrtle and Ivan Allen opened a modest restaurant of their Georgian home. The enterprise has burgeoned however conventional values nonetheless prevail. Public rooms are stuffed with flowers from the backyard, bedrooms vary from the comfortable to the sunshine and ethereal. Chef Jason Fahey makes use of domestically sourced produce, fruit, greens and herbs from the walled backyard and residential farm, and contemporary fish delivered each day, in such dishes as escalope of John Dory, backyard herb relish and pak choi. The lodge’s cookery faculty attracts budding cooks from throughout Europe. Not surprisingly the meals is outstanding. B&B from £195 (ballymaloe.ie)

Basic nation home

Hambleton Corridor, Hambleton, Rutland

All three rooms have lake and mountain views, in addition to contemporary flowers, selfmade biscuits and books

If you wish to be cosseted and pampered, that is the place I’d head for above all others. Tim and Stefa Hart remodeled this Victorian searching field, which was constructed for a rich brewer, into an aesthetic lodge 40 years in the past. It runs as easily as a Rolls-Royce, from the attentive however unobtrusive service to the Michelin-starred cooking. Aaron Patterson, head chef right here since 1992, works with native and home-grown produce, giving a contemporary spin to the classics in such dishes as lamb, piperade and rosemary sauce. The atmosphere is one among restrained luxurious, with designer interiors by Nina Campbell and by Mrs Hart herself, together with comfy lounges, open fires, antiques and work. The well-tended landscaped gardens are bordered by the shimmering expanse of Rutland Water. Noël Coward got here right here for home events within the 1920s. It’s nonetheless a ball for anybody who want to be indulged. A tremendous instance of how luxurious needs to be executed. B&B from £280 (hambletonhall.com)

Development setter

The Pig, Brockenhurst, Hampshire

Robin Hutson co-founded the Resort du Vin chain, the prototype boutique lodge which he offered for £66m. Then he labored his magic with movie star hangout Lime Wooden. And now, together with his litter of 5 Pig lodges, he’s setting the development but once more in re-imagining the nation home lodge. Hutson makes hospitality look easy, however the secret of his success is his ferocious consideration to element mixed with a shrewd eye and wonderful style. This primary Pig, a former Georgian taking pictures lodge within the New Forest, has open fires, oil work, books and board video games. I like its relaxed, rustic, family-friendly environment. Hutson cares about good meals, which he rightly says needs to be on the coronary heart of any lodge. The conservatory restaurant showcases scrumptious meals from native suppliers, in addition to produce from the kitchen backyard and the native smokehouse. Rooms from £155; breakfast from £10 (thepighotel.com)

5 star B&B

Bryniau Golau, Bala, Gwynedd

: Good Resort Archive

The perfect B&Bs are onerous to beat, however this one stands out from the pack. There are simply three visitor bedrooms at Katrina Le Saux and Peter Cottee’s Victorian home, located in landscaped grounds on a hillside overlooking Bala Lake, inside Snowdonia Nationwide Park. All three rooms have lake and mountain views and such welcoming touches as contemporary flowers, home-baked biscuits, books and magazines. There’s a log fireplace and an honesty bar within the sitting room, and a terrace on which to sit down and watch the sundown. Breakfast is served off tremendous china, at a protracted desk in a room with a baby-grand piano. With the complete Welsh breakfast comes selfmade bread, freshly squeezed orange juice and honey from the homeowners’ hives. B&B singles from £90, doubles from £110 (bryniau-golau.co.uk)

For extra particulars go to goodhotelguide.com. The Good Resort Information to Nice Britain and Eire prices £20. To order a replica for £17, go to guardianbookshop.com