Tempting food and seductive bedrooms are what we most eagerly anticipate when we head off to a hotel. It's no surprise that some of the brightest young chefs and hoteliers have chosen to concentrate on these essentials when opening their own places. This explains the growing popularity of the restaurant-with-rooms. This selection, all from the 2006 edition of the Good Hotel Guide, features several illustrious names but also some hidden gems; in all cases the food is of the essence. They have all been visited by anonymous inspectors and readers, whose observations are quoted. Prices are per person for bed & breakfast or dinner, bed & breakfast (D, B&B).
Scotland
Summer Isles Hotel
Achiltibuie by Ullapool, Highlands (01854 622282; www.summerisleshotel.co.uk)
1 The setting is breathtaking - with views across to the Hebrides - but aficionados make the journey to this croft-style hotel/restaurant in a remote Highland village just for the food. Chef Chris Firth-Bernard has a Michelin star for his no-choice menu. Two rooms in the main house have the best views; other log-cabin style rooms are also recommended. Reopens 6 April.
B&B £61-£96; dinner £49.
The Three Chimneys and The House Over-by
Colbost, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, Highlands (01470 511258; www.threechimneys.co.uk)
2 Eddie and Shirley Spear's crofter's cottage stands across a single-track road from Loch Dunvegan in north-west Skye. She works in the kitchen with head chef Michael Smith to present fresh local ingredients (carpaccio of smoked haddock with quail eggs, prawn and lobster bisque) in the candle-lit restaurant. The house 'over-by' (next door), contains split-level bedrooms with luxurious bathrooms.
B&B £120-£125; dinner £45-£52.
2 Quail
Dornoch, Highlands (01862 811811; www.2quail.com)
3 Michael and Kerensa Carr run their small restaurant-with-rooms in this seaside town almost single-handedly. He, Ritz-trained, is the chef; she is front-of-house. The three-course menu has 'delicious dishes, well-textured and subtly flavoured', said the inspectors, who enjoyed turbot supreme with an orange crust. The three bedrooms are 'well-proportioned, pleasingly old-fashioned'. Residents need to book a table in the popular dining room (only 12 covers). Open weekends only in winter.
B&B £40-£50; dinner £39.
Wales
The Drawing Room
Cwmbach, Newbridge-on-Wye Builth Wells, Powys (01982 552493; www.thedrawing-room.co.uk)
4 Colin and Melanie Dawson have 'beautifully restored' a Georgian house north of Builth Wells in contemporary style. 'He is the chef, she the sous-chef, responsible for desserts, breads, pastry, also front-of-house,' said impressed inspectors whose 'superb' meal included fresh crab salad, salmon with seared scallops and leek ragout. 'Service professional throughout; relaxed atmosphere.' The three bedrooms are uncluttered, with classic furnishings.
D,B&B from £95.
Tyddyn Llan
Llandrillo nr Corwen, Denbighshire (01490 440264; www.tyddynllan.co.uk)
5 'Delightful, and hard to fault,' said our inspectors of Bryan and Susan Webb's small restaurant-with-rooms, a grey stone Georgian mansion set in the lovely vale of Edeyrnion. His cooking was found 'admirable at every course' (osso bucco with saffron risotto, plum soup with blackberries). Clever use of colour in the rooms; period furniture downstairs, country style in bedrooms.
D,B&B £95-£150.
Plas Bodegroes
Pwllheli, Gwynedd (01758 612363; www.bodegroes.co.uk
6 'The rooms, location, house and food are equal reasons for returning' to Chris and Gunna Chown's restaurant-with-rooms which stands in large wooded grounds on the Lleyn peninsula. His 'refreshingly unpretentious' modern cooking (it earns a Michelin star) might feature chargrilled ribeye of Welsh Black beef with oxtail sauce. Service is 'knowledgeable and suitably unhurried'. She has created attractive Scandinavian-style interiors.
B&B £50-£120; dinner £40
The north
Cross House Lodge at The Star Inn
Harome, nr Helmsley, North Yorkshire (01439 770397; www.thestaratharome.co.uk)
7 'Our aim was to create a unique Yorkshire inn,' say Andrew and Jacquie Pern, who have secured a Michelin star. Food is served in the 'low-ceilinged, atmospheric' bar and a small dining room. Andrew Pern produces 'traditional French cooking with a Yorkshire influence' (cassoulet of Harome-reared duck with spiced sausage). A mix of rustic and modern in the bedrooms.
B&B £60-£105; dinner around £40.
The Angel Inn
Hetton nr Skipton, North Yorkshire (01756 730263; www.angelhetton.co.uk
8 Long famed in the Dales for its food and wine, this old coaching inn has added five bedrooms in a barn opposite. Bruce Ellsworth's cooking is 'modern British' (confit shoulder of lamb with thyme mash, apple and cinnamon crumble, for example). 'An excellent 30-year-old whisky was in the honesty bar,' noted one visitor.
B&B £65-£90; dinner £32.45.
The Rose and Crown
Romaldkirk nr Barnard Castle, Co Durham (01833 650213; www.rose-and-crown.co.uk)
9 'Outstanding food' is enjoyed at Christopher and Alison Davy's 18th-century coaching inn, opposite the green in a 'beautiful, unspoilt' Teesside village. An imaginative dinner menu features regional dishes with a modern influence (duckling with leek and bacon pudding).
D,B&B £89-£106.
The Midlands
Russell's Restaurant
Broadway, Worcestershire (01386 853555; www.russellsofbroadway.co.uk
10 Barry Hancox and Andrew Riley 'have done wonders with the listed building', creating a modern look while retaining old features. Head chef Jonathan Rix serves an inexpensive fixed-price menu until 7pm in the smart bistro-style restaurant; later, guests eat à la carte. 'Beef fillet was the tenderest I have ever eaten; puddings were glorious,' said an inspector.
B&B £52.50-£97.50; dinner £14.95-£35.
Mr Underhill's
Ludlow, Shropshire (01584 874431; www.mr-underhills.co.uk)
11 In an 'exquisite' setting on the banks of the River Teme, Christopher and Judy Bradley's restaurant-with-rooms 'goes from strength to strength', say visitors who return regularly. 'Dinner is an occasion': each table gets a personalised menu. No choice until dessert, but: 'it is not set in stone, they will do anything to make sure you enjoy the meal.' He describes his Michelin-star cooking as 'cutting-edge comfort' with dishes such as smoked haddock velouté with chives and 'the best puddings in town'. The bedrooms are 'comfortable, bold, stylish'.
B&B £52.50-£115; dinner £40-£46.
Langar Hall
Langar, Nottinghamshire (01949 860559; www.langarhall.com)
12 Imogen Skirving was born in this honey-coloured Georgian house, but turned it into a hotel and wrote a book about the transformation, The Reluctant Restaurateur. Reluctant she may have been, but the restaurant and its rooms have proved a major success. The daily changing menu uses local ingredients for dishes such as ham hock ravioli and black pudding with mustard seed salsa, and for pudding, trio of rhubarb with ginger beer sorbet.
B&B £45-£92.50; dinner £26-£42.50.
The South
The Place
Camber Sands, East Sussex (01797 225057; www.theplacecambersands.co.uk)
13 This former motel has been transformed by Matthew Wolfman and Mike Ashton. Organic ingredients and fish from non-threatened species are served in the popular restaurant (bouillabaisse with Rye Bay fish and shellfish). The atmosphere is 'cheerful', according to an inspector: 'think Scandinavia or New England.'
B&B £42.50-£65; dinner around £30.
The Sun Inn
Dedham, Essex (01206 323351; www.thesuninndedham.com)
14 A 'fine old pub' which has been 'discreetly restored' by Piers Baker, who once ran a group of small gastropubs in London. The cooking is modern with Mediterranean overtones (Gloucester Old Spot pork and bean stew); 'simple, pub-like service, friendly but not fussy'. Pretty bedrooms have quirky touches and huge beds.
B&B £35-£65; dinner around £25.
Restaurant 36 on The Quay
Emsworth, Hampshire (01243 375592; www.36onthequay.co.uk)
15 On the harbour of a seaside village near Portsmouth, this is an attractive 17th-century building with 'stunning views'. Ramon (the chef) and Karen Farthing are praised by readers for their charm and hard work, which gained them a Michelin star. 'Attractive and sophisticated' cooking (lemon sole paupiettes with a ratatouille mousse, langoustine fritters). 'Good atmosphere, above-average service.' Interesting bedrooms, postmodern bathrooms.
B&B £45-£75; dinner £42.95.
The West
Little Barwick House
Barwick, nr Yeovil, Somerset (01935 423902; www.littlebarwickhouse.co.uk)
16 'Elegance and attention to detail sum up the experience' at Tim and Emma Ford's Georgian dower house near the Somerset/Dorset border, which attracts almost universal praise. In the 'large, airy' dining room with a conservatory extension, dinner 'is an epic event'; his cooking 'has not lost its magic touch'. The style is modern (saddle of wild roe deer with a crispy confit of pork belly). Flowers in the 'harmoniously decorated' bedrooms.
D,B&B £79-£102.95
The Museum Inn
Farnham, nr Blandford Forum, Dorset (01725 516261; www.museuminn.co.uk)
17 Often 'full and buzzing', especially at weekends, this thatched 17th-century inn has a bright modern look. 'I was bowled over by the food,' said a reader about Mark Treasure's cooking, served at wooden tables in the bar or in the pretty Shed restaurant. The style is modern European (caramelised onion tarte tatin; 'excellent' pot-roast partridge). The best bedrooms are in the main house; smaller (cheaper) rooms in the stables at the back.
B&B £47.50-£70; dinner around £35.
The Seafood Restaurant
Padstow, Cornwall (01841 532700; www.rickstein.com/contact.htm)
18 Celebrity chef Rick Stein's extensive empire allows visitors to select dining and accommodation in keeping with their tastes and budgets. Top of the range is the Seafood restaurant; then there are St Petroc's bistro, a café, and a superb fish-and-chip shop (eat in on big wooden tables or take away). Universal praise for the cooking: 'My starter of fruits de mer, absolutely fresh, took half an hour to eat.' Puddings are 'delicious'.
B&B £42.50-£125; dinner £30-£65.
Ireland
The Mill Restaurant
Figart, Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal (00 353 74 913 6985; www.themillrestaurant.com)
19 Catch a cheap flight to Derry City and drive 90 minutes to the wild north coast of Donegal. Just outside the seaside village of Dunfanaghy you'll find the Mill run by Susan and Derek Alcorn. Our inspector said: 'We loved the magnificent house speciality of upside-down fish pie with lobster, crab claws, cockles and salmon. Exceptional value.' Reopens mid-March.
B&B €42.50 (£29); dinner €37 (£25).
Ballymaloe House
Shanagarry, Co Cork (00 353 21 465 2531; www.ballymaloe.com)
20 Just 20 miles from Cork airport, the Allen family's renowned hotel/restaurant (and cookery school) 'remains a peerless operation', says a visitor. Jason Fahy, the chef, serves superior 'country-house cooking' on a menu which features local produce (Gubbeen ham braised in chablis with peperonata and chives). Bedrooms in the main house are the largest.
B&B €105-€150 (£71-£102); dinner €65 (£44).
· The Good Hotel Guide, Great Britain and Ireland 2006 (£16.99) is published by The Good Hotel Guide Ltd, 50 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QP (020-7602 4182; www.goodhotelguide.com
