The Bell Inn – Langford, Oxfordshire

Cotswold born and bred, Peter Creed and Tom Noest have the perfect pedigree to run an authentic 16th century country pub with rooms: Tom as cook and Peter running front of house. They reopened The Bell – a much-loved local inn in a picturesque village – in December 2017, and were garnering rave reviews within weeks. ‘I had not just the best mouthful of the year, but the best mouthful of my life,’ remarked food critic Giles Coren after he visited. It’s a real foodies’ pub, with a no-nonsense, ever-changing menu concentrating on locally sourced, fresh, hearty British dishes – pub classics, roasts and wood-fired fish, vegetables and pizzas, served in a cosy, beamed and flagstoned room. The eight stylish, renovated bedrooms – some above the pub, others on the ground floor – have king-size beds and knock-out bathrooms. You’ll be hard pushed to find a better value or more laid-back Cotswold inn and arrangements can be made for guests to take part in a range of sports, from stalking and fishing to clay pigeon, driven and rough shooting. 

Doubles from £80 

+44 (0)1367 860249; thebelllangford.com