Forty Winks

Hotel review

Don’t be misled by the term ‘guest house’. This is a sumptuous, exotically furnished grand building that feels more like a private home. Which it is: Deborah and Nigel Gadd originally bought it as a family home, as much for its size as its breath-taking views across the River Wear to the castle and cathedral. Great collectors, with a taste for the eccentric and eye-catching, they’ve furnished it with humour and panache: stuffed animals, clowns’ heads, skeletons and a chrome juke-box are scattered amongst rich French and Italian antiques. There are polished parquet floors, glittering chandeliers and velvet-swagged windows. A stuffed giraffe guards the foot of the leopard-print-carpeted staircase. Bedrooms, thankfully, are much calmer spaces in sleek creams and golds. Either choose a compact and sleek ‘crash-pad’ or a grander, romantic French boudoir with chandeliers and antiques. All have king-size beds, powder-soft carpets and airy bathrooms. Breakfast, cooked-to-order and served amongst flickering torcheres and gilt-framed oil paintings, offers an impressive choice from porridge with local honey to omelettes and a full grill. Not a place for minimalists.

Helen Pickles