This 19th-century villa on the city's ancient walls is big on luxury – but it's the attention to the small details at this Chester B&B that really sets it apart
Any hotelier can provide an approximation of luxury. Throw enough money, Egyptian cotton and bespoke furniture at a space and you can create a stage set that, on first contact, will wow most people.
But how many of them bear closer scrutiny? Tim Mills has been in the hospitality trade for years, and he and his partner, Mike Stephen, have given Edgar House – an early 19th-century villa on Chester's city walls, overlooking the Dee – a smart finish and all the mod cons (HD internet-connected TVs, strong Wi-Fi, a lounge that's also a cinema room).
It is, however, the details – fresh milk, cafetière and freshly ground coffee, homemade cakes not bought-in biscuits, night lights to guide you to the loo, heavy, metal coathangers, free in-room movie downloads – that mark out Edgar House as a place designed for comfort. From the shelf space in the bathroom to the wastepaper bins (tiny, fiddly bins are a bizarre idiosyncrasy of the hotel trade), there is little to complain about.
In Cheshire, the dominant aesthetic is bling. Rare is the room that isn't dressed with a chandelier. Edgar House has its share of dangling cut glass, but its flashier features (a beaten copper bath, wallpaper embossed with gold bumblebees) are kept in check. Overall, its five large bedrooms – four with river and garden views, two with balconies – mix a mature, English drawing-room style with modern, functional (handmade) furniture that has a stark, Bauhaus simplicity. The honesty bar is in an old telephone box and the walls are lined with eclectic art.
Gripes? Some rooms have outsize, hip-height beds, which are (and I'm 5ft 11in) awkward to get into. The fixed-head shower is a bugbear too, even in this huge, walk-in beauty, with its Molton Brown toiletries, underfloor heating and plush towels. It has a daytime tearoom, and, of course, Edgar House serves a not just locally, but fastidiously sourced breakfast – expensive at an additional £12.50pp, but minor grievances aside (unwelcome background music, microherbs scattered on scrambled eggs) it's excellent. However, it won't be serving evening meals until sometime in spring. Instead, I went over the road to an old favourite, the Brewery Tap. An atmospheric Jacobean hall, it serves plates of, say, faggots, pea mash and onion gravy, with ales from owners Spitting Feathers (pint from £2.90), among others.
Back at Edgar House, down duvet and pillows, crisply laundered sheets and the lulling sound of the river outside (not to mention, three pints), combined to provide a sound night's sleep. You might imagine, at these prices, that such thorough comfort comes as standard. It doesn't. Edgar House is a find.
• Accommodation was provided by Edgar House