The Oaksmere

Since being rescued and renovated over a decade ago by local businessman Fraser Duffin, The Oaksmere has established a reputation as one of the best places to eat in the rural hinterlands of Eye, Diss and the Norfolk-Suffolk border. It was formerly a country house hotel, but Fraser has turned it into more of a place to eat with boutique rooms, breathing life into what is now a large and rather wonderful restaurant with rooms. It;'s a lovely old building made up of an ancient Tudor core and a Victorian extension, and it boasts as comfortable and up-to-date a country vibe as you could wish for, and a cosiness that can’t help but make you relax.

Fraser likes people who come for the weekend, leave the car keys at reception and chill out good and proper. This involves making the most of the the sumptuously equipped rooms, and hanging out in the cosy, flagstoned bar, which doubles as the village pub, with a proper pub sign outside, sport on the telly and a decent menu of bar snacks and pub grub – perfect for meeting the locals. There’s a comfy lounge on the other side of the entrance hall, which feeds through to the sleek but relaxed restaurant, which has a menu that is local, British and mainly meaty, using beef from the next door farm, local game and pork from nearby Blythburgh. In summer its windows open out on to a large terrace, beyond which lie the hotel's extensive grounds – perfect for a stroll after dinner.

As for the rooms, they are all different, with big windows and high ceilings in the Victorian wing and cosy beams in the Tudor part of the building – plus four more contemporary rooms in the old coachhouse, two of which have private terraces. They’re all pretty contemporary, with bespoke headboards and knobs and buttons that control pretty much everything in the room – lights, music, a/c, even the window blinds. Each room also has tea-making facilities and Nespresso machines, complimentary biscuits and mineral water, a mini-bar, Bluetooth speakers and Sky TV. The bathrooms are well-equipped with rainfall showers and whirlpool baths, robes and Elemis toiletries, and one of the ground-floor coach house rooms has a wet room and can be adapted to cater for guests with limited mobility. The coach house rooms are also dog-friendly.

All in all The Oaksmere is a country escape not far from London that doesn't stand on ceremony, and understands that jaded city-dwellers want nothing more than to relax at the weekend, eat good food, loll around a bit and maybe go for a walk. The Oaksmere is the ideal place to do just that and be back in time for work on Monday morning. Jump in the car (or take a train to Diss) on a Friday night... and flop!