The Cartford Inn named best foodie hotel in Sunday Times guide

A hotel in Lancashire has been named the UK's 'Best Foodie Hotel' in The Sunday Times Best Places to Stay 2021 guide.

Today, The Sunday Times revealed its definitive list of the 100 best places to stay spread throughout the country, and The Cartford Inn in Preston has been named the best hotel for food nationally.

The owners of The Cartford Inn, Julie and Patrick Beaume, said: “What an honour to receive the exciting award of Best Foodie Hotel from The Sunday Times, such an esteemed publication. As an independent, quirky establishment it is lovely to be recognised for our high standards and dedication. We feel that the title is a reflection of our hardworking staff who have pulled us through the pandemic, without them we would not be where we are today."

The guide says: “This 17th-century inn is now an arty stay with a gallery, a fine-dining pub and an enchanting feel…. The restaurant is Patrick’s domain, with the former Claridge’s chef Chris Bury at the helm...Dinner is served in a series of firelit, flagstoned and reclaimed oak dining rooms decorated with posters, paintings and John Ditchfield’s whimsical blown-glass mushrooms. Utterly beguiling.”

To find out more about The Cartford Inn and to book your table or stay, visit its website.

The Alice Hawthorn in Yorkshire was then named The Sunday Times Best Places to Stay 2021 for the North region.

Described as being an English village pub, perfectly located half-way between York and Harrogate in the village of Nun Monkton, it offers guests four rooms above the pub and eight in industrial-style, wood-lined farm buildings.

Lisa Grainger, deputy editor and travel editor for The Sunday Times Luxx Magazine, says in the guide: “The food is the star at this fabulous 18th-century pub with Scandi-style rooms… Since Richard Harpin, the millionaire co-founder of HomeServe plumbing, bought it he has transformed the historic drinking hole (named after a prize-winning racehorse) into Yorkshire’s version of the Wild Rabbit: a smart, polished gastropub with food as assured as its Oka-inspired interiors.”

Overall, the guide is split into eight regions: London, Southeast, Southwest, Central, East, North, Wales and Scotland, with Sunday Times writers travelling from the Highlands to Penzance, finding something for every taste, budget and location.

There are also winners in eight different categories; Budget, B&B, Foodie, Family, Coastal, Pub, Country and Romantic, with the guide claiming it focuses on the things that really matter; hotels with the essentials of comfort, great service and value, as well as personality and warmth.

The full guide is now available online and will also feature as a supplement within the newspaper this Sunday.