Читать книгу Great Book of Spoon Carving Patterns - Joseph Fullman - Страница 62

Confine yourself to the mustier guesthouses and chain hotels lining every A-road and the Southwest seems a sad place. Seek out the abundance of charming places to stay and it immediately starts warming up. On offer are a variety of places, from medieval inns and rustic cottages buried in wisteria to white-painted Victorian seafront hotels, elegant Georgian townhouses, barns, chapels, castles, country pubs and farmhouses, and family homes full of clutter and cooking smells.

Of those approved by the Tourist Board, standards range from functional – ‘here’s your key, breakfast’s at 8’ – to gorgeous and luxurious. The board, in common with the AA and RAC, uses a 1–5 rating scheme: stars for hotels and diamonds for guesthouses, inns, farmhouses and bed and breakfasts. They slap gold and silver awards on anywhere outstanding. Small 5-diamond guesthouses do not offer the same service as 5-star hotels – don’t expect liveried flunkies and 24-hour room service in your B&B. The rating system works well for hotels, hostels, camping and caravan sites, but less well for guesthouses and B&Bs because it rewards facilities to the detriment of charm. This partly explains the number of L-shaped bedrooms with the obligatory bathroom squeezed in the corner. Not all properties put themselves up for inspection.

Each section of this book will provide a list of recommended places to stay. All of them have something special, whether it is a warm welcome, unique architecture, the character of the rooms, the garden or proximity to the main tourist attractions – or all of the above. The worst of the anonymous chain hotels, creepy roadside motels and jaded B&Bs have been avoided, but not every place is brimming with delightful places to stay. In some instances the rum old establishments of the town have been avoided and a crop of lovely B&Bs, inns and farmhouses found in the surrounding countryside. In all cases, you will be spared the desire to hightail it back to the car or train station on first stepping through the front door. ‘Friendly’ is the first pre-requisite of the book.