This elegant B&B knows that the secret to success is not being slaves to hotel trends, it’s great service and attention to detail
Have we reached peak boutique? Farrow and Ball paint jobs, roll-top baths, Roberts radios, stripped floorboards, exposed brick and mismatched furniture are as common today as floral curtains and doilies were in the 1980s. It’s not that these aren’t attractive features; it’s just that there’s a certain predictability to many of today’s small hotels, pubs with rooms and B&Bs.
But, as with fashion, you don’t have to slavishly follow the latest trends to look good. Larkbeare Grange is a luxury B&B that manages to be both elegant and comfortable by sticking to more classic design. There are family portraits on the cream walls, carpets in the bedrooms, antique furniture and, yes, floral curtains. It’s neat and cosseting but the thing that struck me most about our spacious bedroom – one of four – was the view of fields and gentle hills from the large sash windows. The setting of Larkbeare is lovely – an avenue of cherry trees, currently being replaced with tulip trees, leads to a detached house painted the colour of clotted cream. My partner and I were greeted by owner Julia and ushered to seats overlooking a lawn strewn with croquet mallets and balls. Two minutes later Julia returned with a tray of tea and shortbread and we relaxed into a quintessentially English scene.
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