Address: High Street, Lavenham, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 9QA.
Tel: 0870 4008116
E-mail: heritagehotels@lavenham.swan@forte-hotels.com
Website www.heritage-hotels.com

First impressions: Large, rambling, black-and-white timbered Tudor inn, originally three 15th-century houses. Low ceilings, winding corridors, fireplaces, lots of little alcoves and creaky floorboards. Olde worlde but escapes being claustrophic.

What are the rooms like? Comfortable rather than luxurious (unless you get one of the four-poster rooms). Lots of beams but all the mod cons. Make sure you ask for a room not on the main road, and beware of creaky floorboards above you. Room service is great.

The bed test: Best night's sleep in ages.

The bathroom test: Functional, smallish bath, white tiles amid the beams.

The restaurant: Beautiful high-ceilinged Tudor wool hall with a minstrel gallery but food did not quite match it - trying too hard. Pity about the piano.

What is there to see within walking distance? Lavenham is one of the best preserved medieval villages in England - beautiful high-street and Guildhall in the town square. with a tea-room or two.

What is there to see within driving distance? Lots: this is Constable countryside, dotted with lovely old villages and towns such as Sudbury, Hadleigh and Long Melford. Bury St Edmunds is no distance as are the beaches at Aldeburgh and Southwold.

How much a night? Singles from £95, doubles from £145. Weekend rate includes dinner and breakfast from £94pp per night, Fri to Sun inclusive.