Photo by flickr user Dave Hamster
Two of the loveliest counties in England, Hereford and Shropshire, are not well provided with good hotels. There are a number of very ordinary ones, usually old pubs, that bear the hallmarks of the three-star British inn: a funny smell upstairs, a peremptory manner (‘guests are requested not to…’) and a lack of taste in decoration. Clean enough, rather expensive, utterly unmemorable (unless you have the luck to stumble upon Basil Fawlty), they will lower your spirits. On the other hand, there are some places where you can stay in these counties that will delight you. They tend not to be hotels. The beauty of Moccas Court, the comfort and ease of the Manor House at All Stretton and the sheer niceness of Timberstone are typical of the new wave; none is trying to be a hotel; each is small (at the Manor House there is only one bedroom); they are run with taste, kindness and intelligence; think of them as 21st-century B&Bs (though they do dinner too, if you want it), the ultimate guest houses. Try them.
Written by George Pownall
