The Bloomsbury, York: B&B review

This revamped guesthouse near the centre of York is so welcoming our writer has to tear himself away to explore the historic city itself

It is one of life’s ironies that hotel rooms don’t often encourage you to linger. You sleep and shower there. But laze around? Rarely. At the budget end, bedrooms are frequently stark, alienating shells with furniture seemingly designed to keep you moving. At luxury level, rooms can feel like pristine stage-sets – admirably chic but where do you flop down and put your feet up without worrying you might break something?

That the solution to this might be a B&B in York may sound absurd. The old image of a claustrophobic B&B, with cramped rooms and tyrannical owners beadily watching your every move, is a hard one to shake. The Bloomsbury, thankfully, is worlds away from that cliche.