There is a clever mix of the past and present at this Victorian coaching inn with contemporary main house, poolside and spa suites, inventive cooking in the restaurant, and an all-year heated outdoor pool. The ‘charming road frontage’ of the inn and adjacent cottages suggests a small, solidly traditional hotel, but inside the galleried reception ‘it grows quite dramatically and unexpectedly’, reports a Guide insider. The design ‘blends the charm of its cottagey buildings with the swish of the new: spa, modern suites, the courtyard with heated outdoor pool’. Main-house bedrooms have an over-bath or walk-in shower, while most house suites, with separate lounge area, have a bath and shower and an espresso machine. Poolside suites, some with a private terrace , have a double-ended bath and walk-in shower, ‘sunny colours and a vaguely Mediterranean feel’. Largest and most contemporary are the spa suites, some with balcony, with ‘light colours, pretty vintage feature wallpapers, huge bathrooms, glass-fronted balconies: they feel very spoiling’. All rooms ‘have their own attractions, so not really a dud among them’. In the restaurant, ‘dishes show confident, creative cooking with good local sourcing and unexpected pairings – cheese soufflé with candied pecans, partridge with caramelised pear’. In all, ‘a genuinely peaceful retreat’.