The Long Melford Swan

Set at one end of Long Melford's long and eminently walkable high street, The Swan is one of several good places to stay in this popular south Suffolk village. It's a restaurant with rooms, really: less formal than a hotel but definitely a cut above most pubs with rooms, with a bar-reception area and a restaurant extension that opens out onto a large garden – a great summer spot for al fresco eating and drinking.

The rooms are comfy and rather stylish – 10 in all, split between 4 a separate building (Melford House) next door but one and main building. They’re all a decent size without being enormous, and they either have a spacious shower or seductively-lit old-fashioned bath tubs (a couple of which are in the rooms) – or both. Each room is subtly lit and eclectically furnished, with bright-eye-catching fabrics and bold colours, made-to-measure headboards and curtains, Freeview TVs, decent wi-fi, tea-and coffee-making facilities. The overall feel is thoroughly up-to-date and a little bit quirky, with a style that is on the cosy side of contemporary. 

The restaurant offers a shortish, crowd-pleasing menu of well-made pub classics and the location couldn't be better if you like this part of Suffolk – a two-hour drive from London, on the main street of one of Suffolk’s most delightful villages, and with lots to see within walking distance and in the surrounding area, including the timbered tourist honeypot of Lavenham, four miles away. If you wish you can stroll there along a disused railway line.