On our many trips out of Essex we always have an overnight break in, normally, a Premier Inn. This…read moretime, on our way down to Kernow, we chose Glastonbury. What a fantastic choice it was. Reception was swift and Covid-19 aware. A pleasant surprise was an upgrade to their Premier Plus room. Wow, quite a difference. Larger room, extras such as arm chair, ironing board and iron, extra pillows, good coffee machine as well as tea making facilities, nice toiletries, faster wi-fi available etc etc. A really enjoyable, quiet, overnight stay. TIP. Buy their meal offer when booking. Great breakfast and a nice evening meal at, I believe, about 25% discount.

Might possible be the best Premier Inn across the UK. Newly opened, it is modern, clean, bright…read more Rooms are well I sugared from sound for a good nights sleep. Beds are very comfy. Not sinking soft, and not too hard either. Water pressure in the shower was great and water was hot instantly. All rooms have air conditioning too. Checkin service was very friendly and quick. What more would you want from a Premier Inn?

Very nice place, worth to try. Cross the street was Clarks front door, all the village was full of…read morehistory

Seems pretty popular for Sunday lunch, but fairly quiet the rest of the time…read more Nice looking place inside and out and bar staff pretty friendly. Drinks are fairly varied and averagely priced. Shame it's a chain with generic (not all that cheap) pub menu Worth trying though.

The Carvery is amazing - the beef is cooked to perfection. Staff are professional. the Bar is cosy…read more I have only had food from the a la carte once and that was equally as good. There is a Side restaurant at the back called Le Roche which does black rock steak where it comes out on a hot rock so you can cook your steak to your own liking - a novelty but fun. I find the Arms good for large groups there are 17 of us there next weekend for a carvery for a birthday meal.

Welcome to the Castle Hotel at Taunton. This historic Norman fortress has witnessed over 9…read morecenturies of turbulent history. In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth's officers gathered here on the eve of the Battle of Sedgemoor, where they were defeated by the forces of King James II. The infamous Judge Jeffries held his Bloody Assize in the Great Hall of the castle shortly afterwards. Over 200 rebels from the Monmouth Rebellion were tried, convicted and then hanged, drawn and quartered. A further 800 were transported to the West Indies to work on the sugar plantations. The building we see today is a Grade II listed, 18th century reconstruction of the original Norman castle, but does incorporate the original east gate, Castle Bow, which boasts 13th century features.

Where to begin! Staying here was a highlight of my recent, and first trip to England. I was coming…read moreto do some family history work at the archives in Taunton, as well as visit Glastonbury Tor. When I read this was an actual castle with medieval beginnings, I was immediately drawn in. Then I visited their website and read a few reviews and I booked it! It's a unique experience to say the least. Coming through the front, revolving door had an old world charm that was very welcoming (even though I snagged my luggage). The front desk staff were all super friendly, accommodating, and professional. The room was huge! I don't know how I ended up with a suite but I certainly did not book it nor pay extra so, the only conclusion is they upgraded me because it was available? No matter, I was in awe! I cannot recommend this place enough, it's a castle! Unforgettable.

I had the opportunity to visit this restaurant with friends of mine yesterday. First of all the…read moredrive out is through a national Park and is absolutely stunning. This place must be absolutely hopping in the summer! The pig is a restaurant and a hotel, on a beautiful piece of land on the water. I have included several pictures of the view. This is a true farm to table restaurant. We enjoyed a long leisurely lunch that included the 'piggy and fishies' tray, homemade warm bread, cauliflower soup and fish and pork chop mains. Absolutely fantastic meal with wine pairings. We then retired to the lounge for coffee and a bit of a rest before the journey home. A+! The ambiance is 'elegant countryside' and service was top notch. I absolutely must return here with my family in short order as they would love it. PS- may have picked up a bit of a Brit accent while here!!

Brilliant local food all sourced within 25 miles of the Pig, Thomas & George in the bar and a very…read morecomfy bed. So I am an expat now living and running and award winning small inn located in Woodstock Vermont so my standards and expectations are high, and this place delivered. So why not a 5 star....carry on reading. I had been notified by some UK clients of my inn that the Pig chain was a happening place, so on my UK November road trip I spent a night here and had lunch and dinner. The staff are all youthful, perhaps the UK ones are a little 'too home counties' but they all seem to know their jobs and carry out their daily tasks with efficiency. Many of the staff are the real deal from France, and great they were too. My room was comfy luxe, small but very comfortable with a good bathroom and deep bath. It was clean, fresh and the mini bar/tv etc all did the job. An old Roberts radio, now kitted out for digital was a nice touch. I overlooked the gardens and Studland Bay. However for 189 quid I did find the ADDITIONAL requested 15 quid for a full English or 10 quid for a continental breakfast a little picky, thus I ate none. It seemed to me to be exceptionally tight fisted...hence my 4 star rating. The lunch was to quote Michael Winner ...HISTORIC! I dined on crispy veal tail, deviled sprats, south coast hake with chorizo, a bottle of South African wine all served by a attractive and delightful young french waitress, and whilst I don't wish to appear sexist...I was in serious lust! However the condition was purely in my mind as I'm a middle aged fart who keeps these things to himself! A classic lunch of good ingredients prepared and cooked by a well organised kitchen....HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! So for dinner I spent the evening in the bar people watching.....Thomas and George were a fine example of good bar staff, chatty in a cheeky sort of way and happy to serve. I was in luck it turned out, as usually they don't have any real ales on tap, but left over from a weekend shindig was a small barrel of excellent local bitter......I managed to make a 4 pint indent into it! I also ate a few bar snacks, saddleback crackling (3 portions it was that good!) Hock eggs (delicious version of a scotch egg) potted trout and crispy cuttlefish....again all 10/10. George told me he was off to Courchevel 1650in 2 weeks to do the winter as head barman in their hotel in the village, having worked over there last winter, and Thomas I hope has been promoted and filled his shoes in Studland as head bar person....he was more than capable. So all in all the place deserves its growing reputation and seemed to be totally full on a November wednesday evening, the restaurant was packed for lunch and dinner, SO DO PRE-BOOK. This fact was made all the more surprising as the Studland ferry was not operating as it was out of service for maintenance for 6 weeks....so folks from Poole/Bournemouth had to make an additional 20 mile round trip.

Ah, Ashwick House. What a delight…read more I hadn't been to Exmoor before, and so was very excited as we weaved our way through its treasure trove of villages, bound for Dulverton. Then we took a turn on to the moor, across a cattle grid, down a single track road, and past the Exmoor Pony Centre. In a wooded Coombe lay Ashwick House, an old shooting lodge tastefully refurbished into a very comfortable country house hotel. The first good point about this hotel became evident immediately - the host came out to meet and greet us with an easy, relaxed air. Staying at Ashwick House feels more like staying with some friends for the weekend, but in luxurious comfort. The host and hostess are very friendly, but also allow you enough privacy to enjoy your weekend. The balance is perfect. When you enter the house you'll encounter the main hall - very much the central room. A grand hall for a grand house, but still cosy enough to enjoy your evening drink in. It also has a very good collection of oriental furniture which manages to blend perfectly with the age and atmosphere of the house. We were then shown to our room. Nicely decorated and a newly refurbished bathroom. I was particularly pleased to see that there was a small fridge in the corner meaning we had been given fresh milk in a jug. (I can't stand those horrible plastic pots of milk.) You have the option to dine in at Ashwick house, and I would strongly recommend trying this at once during your stay. The 5 (or is it 6) course menu is excellent, with a good selection each evening. The price is at the higher end of the scale, but I was perfectly happy to pay for the quality of the food. The chef is also happy to be adaptable, as proved when I asked for plain pasta pre-marathon! The breakfast was also very good. Homemade fruit compote and yoghurt, a selection of cereals and then the delicious full english. I've never seen a full english presented so well, and boy did it taste good! Slightly sad to see the absence of beans, but I think that's more my fault for not asking for them. Ashwick House made me realise the value of a weekend in a country house hotel. Not something I've done that much, but I have now made a mental note to indulge myself in the future. I think I'll definitely be returning to enjoy this magnificent area of the West Country. (I haven't mentioned any of the history of the house, as I'll let you enjoy discovering this when you stay!)

Follow the river,cross the cattle grid : where were we going as we followed the directions across…read moreExmoor to Ashwick House ? It turned out the directions were as well thought out and attentive to detail as Ashwick House itself. The house,beautiful in its individuality and graceful in its decor was at the same time comfortable and welcoming. A nice touch: the host came out to greet us as we arrived and later showed us around some of the private rooms. The food was excellent;the menu varied and we particularly enjoyed sitting in the hall before the wood burning stove savouring the first drink of the evening whilst hearing from our host and hostess about the history of the house. We did not see the red deer this time but we'll be back to this special place

So you spend a week in a field in a tent in the sweltering heat, not sleeping much or eating much…read more When monday comes around what is it that you want to do? Drive back to London? ~NOPE! So I formulated a plan, my partner and our best friend rented a family room at Crossways approximately 4 minute drive from the Glastonbury festival car parks. For one night we were charged £90 between the 3 of us which included breakfast too. The service here was okish, basically all their staff were at the festival so fair enough, so were we and we were definitely in no state to work on monday so we let them off. We desperately needed food and water when we arrived and the menu in the restaurant did not disappoint. In fact it was fantastic, maybe after a week of virtually malnutrition then I am biased but I think it was fantastic. They had all sorts ranging from blue cheese stuffed pairs to fried egg on brioche and black pudding. For main they had food like steak, grilled hake, belly pork or fish and chips. I chose the fish and chips and was thoroughly delighted. So after dinner we were exhausted and could barely speak and around 8pm headed to bed. The room was extremely clean and looked like it had only just been renovated with an entirely new bathroom suite and massive beds... There was one draw back sadly, the room walls were thin and we had a door adjoining us onto another room that was terribly badly soundproofed so we could hear every word of the people next door's conversation...... We were lucky that the exhaustion over powered their conversation but if you were staying here and hadn't been at a festival all week you might be a little annoyed.

Welcoming, cosy, lovely garden, good home cooked food, attractive comfortable accommodation. Its…read moreall what they say on the website and its all true. Just did an overnight stay having been in Wincanton in the day. Got there late (10pm) and the kitchen looked like it was closing down, so was expecting the usual chefs finished but no, they set up to proper places settings and full menu as usual. Great rooms and dont miss the Full English in the morning. Avoid the local cider unless you can handle the stuff