Address: High Street, Broadway, Worcestershire.

Telephone: 01386 852255.

Website: the-lygon-arms.com

First impressions: An intriguing old inn. As you go through the front door, the beams look every bit their age - in some places almost 500 years. Little nooks (with real log fires) are wonderful places for drinks. The reception hall leads to private rooms and a wide courtyard from which you access the much more modern spa, business centre and convention rooms.

What are the rooms like? They range from the fascinating Cromwell Suite, where Oliver Cromwell was supposed to have stayed during the Civil War, and the King Charles Suite, complete with secret passage through which Charles I is supposed to have tried to escape the Roundheads. Then there is the modern wing with comfortable, light and airy rooms. In between, there are suites in a cottage across a narrow roadway.

The bed test: Four-posters are almost de rigueur in the older rooms (and the cottage).

The bathrooms: In the King Charles Suite, huge, stand-alone baths, nearby shower compartments.

The restaurants: You can't stay at the Lygon without having your meals (including breakfast) in the Great Hall - which, although seeming to be straight out of the 16th century was created just 100 years ago. It has a minstrel gallery and there are armorial shields along the ceilings. Snacks are served (any time of the day) in the Cotswold Bar, or there's Olivers, the brasserie adjoining the main hotel.

What is there to do nearby? Broadway is a totally unspoilt village of Cotswold stone houses. Stratford-on-Avon is just 20 miles away, Oxford about 30.

How much a night? From £179 B&B for two people sharing a room, £256 half-board.