Room service
23/12/2006
Five hotels I've visited this year that I would happily return to.
The Bell Hotel
Back in 1994, when I wrote about The Bell Hotel (01304 613388, www.bellhotelsandwich.co.uk) in Sandwich, the headline read: "They roll out the red carpet complete with flowers." In 2006, two bay trees stand like sentinels at its street entrance and the red carpet has been replaced by polished oak parquet.This time our room looked down on to the River Stour and a little quayside where boats were tied up. Downstairs, in the Brasserie, the cool and stylish restaurant with food to match, the tables have stainless-steel bases and blond wood tops. Matthew Wolfman and Mike Ashton, who also own The Place, Camber Sands, are doing their bit for eco tourism in the UK. See the website for more information.
Gliffaes Country House
Driving through the gates of Susie and James Suter’s Gliffaes Country House (01874 730371, www.gliffaeshotel.com) in Crickhowell we found a lovely Italianate building, with lawns, trees, exotic plants and flowers, plus a stretch of the River Usk. A notice told us that "it is customary to dress for dinner" and, in their magnificent conservatory restaurant, we realised that the food had been chosen to taste good, not just to impress. And at breakfast time, they made porridge specially for me.It was here that my husband left his jacket. When he phoned to say that he would like to collect it, James said: "Oh, I was going to parcel it up and send it to you tomorrow." Now, that's what I call service.
The White Horse and Griffin
(01947 604857, www.whitehorseandgriffin.co.uk), an ancient coaching inn, is in one of Whitby's narrow cobbled streets. Parking long enough to unload the car, we met a man with a black beard and ponytail. "No, we don't have any parking," he said, ''but there's a pay and display just down the road."Our room, at the top of a narrow, twisting staircase, was large, delightful and had a big squashy bed with a grouping of old prints and photographs hanging above it. Down in the restaurant, the food came under the heading of ''yummy" and the background music from the Ella Fitzgerald/Frank Sinatra era added to the atmosphere. And for breakfast lovers, Stewart, the chef and owner, served what he described as power breakfasts. The less-hungry weren't forgotten either — there was fruit salad and thick-cut toast; but I just hope that he has got rid of the plastic containers of jam and marmalade.
Clarence House Country Hotel & Restaurant
At Clarence House Country Hotel & Restaurant (01229 462508, www.clarencehouse-hotel.co.uk), in Dalton-on-Furness, a piano tinkled in the crowded conservatory bar. We were in what we'd assumed would be a simple Cumbrian hotel but, with the men wearing suits and ties and the women in best-dress mode, we could almost have been at the Ritz.We dined in the hotel's elegant restaurant, overlooking a valley, and ate delicious food in just the right portions.
Next morning, at one end of the restaurant, a table had been laid with help-yourself cereals, dried fruit, fresh fruit, yogurt, muesli, nuts and juices, a label in front of each dish, plus a toaster with ready-cut bread. There were also cooked dishes from the kitchen. Afterwards a waitress told us that Mrs Barber started the business with her husband in the early l980s. "She's here every day and doesn't miss a thing."
Randolph Hotel
Now for something completely different: a large, Company-owned hotel. Outside the grand portico of the Randolph Hotel (0870 400 8200, www.randolph-hotel.com), in the centre of Oxford, there was a buzz of activity, with people arriving, leaving and hailing taxis. We told one of the smiling uniformed men that we had booked a parking place and he took charge of the car. At the reception desk, we were told that we had been upgraded to an executive double. "Do let us know if you'd like help with your bags." After a pre-dinner cocktail in the Morse Bar — this is Colin Dexter territory — we ordered from the set menu. Big Band music from the 1940s added to the atmosphere.We were treated like honoured guests in the restaurant and the food was both scrumptious and different. If only all corporate hotels were like this