Meryan House Hotel

After a challenging day of travel, the warm welcome was such a relief. This little gem sits in a beautiful village and, to me, captures England: charm, character and lovely hospitality. If you appreciate a personal touch and a bit of charm, this is the hotel for you.

The location suited our plans to visit the places we wanted to see, but we wouldn’t stay here again. The building may be old, but everything felt dated. Our room was cramped, with a very small en suite squeezed into a corner, and the double bed was tiny. There’s a pub across the road, but it wasn’t great, so we stayed out as long as we could and only came back to sleep.

The welcome was shocking, and the place felt cheap. I’d called ahead to ask about secure bicycle storage, but there wasn’t any. They told me I was silly to say it mattered and suggested I find another hotel. Then I got a lecture for not booking direct. When I explained the intermediary’s rate was cheaper, they said that couldn’t be true and I couldn’t have checked. I was also told I’d have had a better room if I’d called them to book. On top of that, they instructed me to leave my room key on a board in the insecure hallway whenever I went out. The hotel itself was frayed but passable, far from amenities, and had an acceptable English breakfast in the morning. It was cheap, and felt it. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to cyclists or anyone else.

We were back at the Meryan House Hotel in 2025. This time we had the smallest double room yet, on the ground floor facing the patio, so there wasn’t much privacy. Still, it’s a pleasant place to stop, and the breakfast remains hard to beat. Everyone was very pleasant. In 2024 we returned with different rooms from the year before, and they were just as quaint and nice. We first stayed in a charming old establishment, with a quaint double room and a large, modern en suite. Everyone was friendly, and breakfast was fabulous and filling. A proper fry-up like that is hard to find these days. We’ll certainly return whenever we’re next in the area.