It’s hard to beat a great British pub. There’s something ineffably comforting about them, whether they’re country establishments with flagstones, beams and crackling fires or bang in the centre of bustling cities.
Although this much-beloved part of our heritage has had a tough time of late — with more than 2,250 pub closures in the past five years, according to the British Beer and Pub Association — there is good news. Many pubs have not only survived but thrived, reinventing themselves by serving up fabulous food as well as bedrooms you don’t want to leave, with four posters for dogs as well as humans and even in-room spa facilities.
The only thing to beat the British pub, it seems, is a great British pub with swanky rooms. And that’s something worth raising a glass to.
The restaurant at the Double Red Duke specialises in open-fire cooking
The Double Red Duke
Clanfield, Oxfordshire
Pub rooms don’t get much swisher than the Duke’s, thanks to its co-owner, Georgie Pearman, who has thrown her energy into creating interiors rich with patterned wallpaper, fabric headboards, roll-top baths and plenty of antiques. Beyond the candy-striped umbrellas lie a traditional flagstone inn and a much-acclaimed restaurant specialising in open-fire cooking, with meat and fish sizzled over charcoal, cherry and applewood. A series of snugs are ideal for anything from playing a game of Scrabble while sipping a cocktail to curling up with the paper after a walk along the Thames Path (there’s also a shepherd’s hut spa for easing any sore muscles). Its sister property, The Mason’s Arms, is just over the road.
Details Doubles from £250 B&B (countrycreatures.com)
Rooms at the Fife Arms overflow with rich fabrics and period wallpaper
The Fife Arms
Braemar, Aberdeenshire
Owned by the gallerists Manuela and Iwan Wirth, this Victorian-era coaching inn is bulging full of art, from the antler-inspired chandelier hanging over the wooden staircase to the striking cubist-style restaurant mural by the artist Guillermo Kuitca. Rooms overflow with rich fabrics, period wallpaper and more than a smattering of tartan. One bar isn’t sufficient here — there are three, including Bertie’s, which holds more than 500 whiskies as well as a wine cellar. More active pastimes from here might include fly fishing, off-road driving, wild swimming and designing your own tartan. Balmoral Castle is only 15 minutes down the road, and this summer Fife Arms guests can enjoy exclusive access to the Scottish home of the British royal family.
Details Doubles from £525 B&B (thefifearms.com)
The dining space at The Pilsley Inn
The Pilsley Inn
Near Bakewell, Derbyshire
Even dogs can fall asleep on a four-poster bed at the Pilsley Inn, part of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s sprawling Chatsworth estate. It’s just a two-mile walk through the countryside from the magnificent stately home, and across the road from its farm shop, where the cheese and meat are particularly good. The contemporary farmhouse rooms, designed by the duchess and featuring four posters, are the ones to book. Guests can also benefit from exclusive access to the Chatsworth fishery — four miles of the banks of the River Derwent — which is usually open only to members. And from January to March, there’s the chance to have a peek at the stately home while it’s closed to the public; private tours can be booked at other times.
Details Farmhouse rooms from £256 B&B (chatsworthescapes.co.uk)
It’s all about wallowing at the Pigs pub
CHRISTAYLORPHOTO.CO.UK
The Pigs
Near Holt, Norfolk
It’s hog heaven at this Norfolk pub, which is all about wallowing — each of the 18 rustic and colourful rooms comes with its own spa facilities. Even the standard sties (sorry, rooms) have a sauna and a bath made for two, while spa suites also feature a steam room and an outdoors hot tub alongside a fire pit. Among the treatments on offer in the boutique spa is a champagne and truffle facial, or there’s the option to go the whole hog with a body massage. As for food, the pub’s Marmite and white chocolate pot after dinner is its signature dish (and yes, you’ll either love it or hate it).
Details Original spa rooms from £280 B&B, spa suites from £450 B&B (thepigs.org.uk)
The Farmers Arms serves farm-to-fork food from Woolsery’s 150-acre organic farm
The Farmers Arms
Woolsery, Devon
Instead of being a village with a pub, Woolsery, near pretty Clovelly on the north Devon coast, is more a pub that is the village. Part of the tech millionaire Michael Birch’s the Collective at Woolsery, it comes with plush rooms and cottages, a 150-acre organic farm, gourmet chippy and local shop. The unusual but delicious farm-to-fork fodder features pickled, fermented and foraged food. It’s worth the drive down the M5 alone for the sea buckthorn tart. In the morning, breakfast is delivered by hamper to rooms done out in an elegant country vibe with bold vintage wallpapers, heritage fabrics and tip-top facilities.
Details Doubles from £275 a night, hamper breakfasts £15pp (woolsery.com)
The Fox pub retains rustic simplicity
The Fox at Oddington
Lower Oddington, Gloucestershire
With its cookery school, Bamford Wellness Spa, farm shop, restaurants and gardening, wine and home outlets, the Cotswolds’ Daylesford Farm Estate has enough to see and do to easily fill a weekend. The best bit, though, is that it’s just a 25-minute walk from the Fox, one of the estate’s four pubs. The owner and queen of Cotswold chic, Carole Bamford, has kept the rustic stone walls, beams and wooden floors and added spoiling details in the six bedrooms, one with a four poster, another with a private garden terrace. Delicious dinners feature food from Daylesford and wine from the company’s Provençal vineyard.
Details Doubles from £225 B&B (thefoxatoddington.com)
The Star dates back to a 15th-century inn
The Star at Alfriston
East Sussex
The elegant interiors of the Star, a 15th-century half-timbered inn with a hotel attached, come thanks to the owners, Alex and Olga Polizzi. Locals still come to sip a beer beneath the beams in the pub proper, but there’s a world of contemporary style in the library, black and white restaurant and 30 rooms (some in a 1970s building), which are decorated in soft greens and blues with classic Polizzi panache. A new Forte suite is being added in April, overlooking the internal courtyard. A half-hour yomp up the hill is Rathfinny’s Winery — a visit here makes a pleasant preamble to the Star’s Mediterranean-inspired food. They’ll also pack a picnic for guests wanting to hike in the South Downs National Park.
Details Doubles from £260 B&B, Forte suite from £470 B&B (thepolizzicollection.com)
The airy restaurant at the Bell serves locally sourced food
The Bell at Skenfrith
Monmouthshire
More boutique hotel than bar, this 17th-century Welsh coaching inn makes a stylish base from which to explore the Monmouthshire countryside or for fishing on the River Monnow, beside which it stands. The six circular walks that start at the Bell’s front door include the four-mile Knights Templar Trail, which crosses the border to an English Knights Templar church. Back at the pub there are local wines, beers and ciders on offer in the Monnow Bar followed by locally sourced food in the airy restaurant, while the rooms might feature a modern four-poster and river views.
Details Doubles from £185 B&B (thebellatskenfrith.co.uk)
One of the seven smart rooms at the Brackenrigg Inn
The Brackenrigg Inn
Ullswater, Cumbria
The joy of staying in one of the seven smart rooms here is that guests can use all the facilities of big sister Another Place — boats, paddleboards, restaurants, indoor pool — on the banks of Ullswater, which is just a five-minute stroll away. Not that the Brackenrigg doesn’t have its own attractions, with vintage furniture and comfy Chesterfield sofas in the bar, and plenty of traditional board games to play after tucking into the pub grub. Bedrooms feature iron-framed beds, with Moroccan-style tiles in the bathrooms. If there’s no room at the inn, try the Queen’s Head on the nearby Lowther Estate, where Askham Hall offers Michelin-starred dining.
Details Doubles from £185 B&B (another.place)
One of the farmhouse-chic bedrooms at the Star Inn, featuring a roll-top bath
The Star Inn
Harome, North Yorkshire
After you’ve spent a day hiking on the North York Moors, the Michelin-starred meal served at this thatched 14th-century inn comes as a welcome feast. The owner, Andrew Pern, has had the Star painstakingly rebuilt after a fire ripped through it in 2021, and there’s still oodles of character. The farmhouse-chic bedrooms are over the road in the former farm buildings and might feature a roll-top bath at the end of the bed, a piano or even a snooker table. Four more minimalist rooms are in a new barn annexe. Breakfast is served at the round table in an old wheelhouse, with a wooden ceiling, small lounge area and honesty bar.
Details Doubles from £160 B&B (thestaratharome.co.uk)
