Poor old Essex. If you listened to the media you’d never go there. Yet it’s one of the UK’s most historic counties, with a collection of wanderable old towns and villages, one of the country’s longest coastlines (despite its relatively small size) and all sorts of ancient and intriguing corners. It’s also home to a surprising number of terrific places to stay and to eat – gastropubs with rooms, fine dining restaurants and blingy boutique hotels.
The best hotels in Essex are:
(Martin Dunford)
Neighbourhood: Harwich
A block back from the Harwich harbourfront, opposite the former home of the captain of The Mayflower, it would be hard to come up with a saltier location than that of the Alma Inn & Dining Rooms (to give it its full name). Harwich is just un-gentrified enough for a pub like The Alma to exist, indeed it’s that rare thing – a pub for drinkers that also serves terrific food and has a set of 6 guest rooms so you can stay overnight. The rooms are very comfortable and have all been renovated with the character of the building in mind, re-purposed ships’ timbers matching the beams and creaky floors, and exposed brick walls and sea-faring charts reminding you where you are. And the food is a perfect complement – mussels, oysters and lobsters in season, plus locally sourced steaks, all priced by weight and chalked up on the blackboard.
Price: Double rooms from £115 a night, B&B.
(Martin Dunford)
Neighbourhood: Horndon-on-the-Hill
Back in the 1980s, long before anyone in Britain thought about the food you ate in a pub much at all, let alone whether it was local or seasonal, this old inn, high up on one of Essex’s few hills, started serving high quality pub food, and the family are still doing the same today. They have also added 26 guest rooms, some (more traditional) in the main building, others (more contemporary) a few doors up the street, which are generously sized and have larger bathrooms with walk-in showers and separate baths. All the rooms have good wifi, some have Smart TVs, complimentary water and tea- and coffee-making facilities with homemade biscuits.
Price: Doubles from £90, B&B
(Martin Dunford)
Neighbourhood: Clavering
Essex is the original home of the gastropub, and this well-known inn is one reason why – run until quite recently by Jamie Oliver’s parents when it was taken over by the East Anglian Chestnut group, which has performed the delicate balancing act of maintaining The Cricketers’…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…