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This creeper-clad inn on the Longleat estate is quirky and eccentric, pared down to the edge of minimalism, but its pubby-but-plush informality is spot-on.
The owner, Christoph Brooke, has hit more or less the right note throughout, with sunken sofas in the snug and skittles in the chic Shepard room. There’s a bistro ambience in the posher dining bar, which overlooks a lovely terrace and leads into the elegant dining room. It even has a tiny organic spa.
Horningsham is one of those quintessentially English villages with bell-ringing, summer fêtes and three labradors per head. You half expect to find John Nettles investigating a grisly murder at the WI drinks party.
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The rooms
There’s an exuberance about the 15 bedrooms – think ornate sconces, exquisite marquetry, four-posters and roll-top baths. Every one is spacious, oddly shaped and aptly themed: the English Eccentric room has a bathroom featuring a collage of famous faces; the Karma Sutra room a frieze of suitably graphic images.
Depending on your mood, the lack of professional finishing (scuffed paintwork, a dearth of bathroom amenities) will feel either shabby chic or just plain shabby. I tended towards the former.
What about the food?
There’s a simple, uncomplicated restaurant, where the chef, Frank Bailey, puts the emphasis is on seasonal local produce. Our starters, crayfish and salmon tian and herb-rolled goat’s cheese, were tasty and prettily presented. West Country rib-eye steak with wild mushrooms and onion marmalade was fine, but the turbot was overcooked – though the accompanying chorizo risotto and grilled artichokes made amends. Sticky toffee pudding more than met our expectations, and the cheeseboard was satisfyingly regional. Overall, dinner was worth the £27.50 fixed price – although I object to paying an extra £2.50 for a side order of carrots.
Is it safe to venture outside the hotel?
You refer, presumably, to Longleat’s award-winning safari park (01985 844400, www.longleat.co.uk; passport ticket £22, children £16)? If you keep your car windows closed, you should emerge with limbs intact, though retract your aerial if you can, as the monkeys like them.
A tip
Everyone makes a beeline for the safari park as soon as they arrive on the estate, which means queues. Head instead for the safari boats, which are fairly empty in the morning, but require long waits in the afternoon.
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The park is closed until February 16, but the house and its 900 acres of Capability Brown parkland are open year-round (admission £10/£6, free with passport ticket). The costume collection and state rooms are well worth seeing.
Beyond Longleat, both Bath and Salisbury are within ready reach.
The Bath Arms, 01985 844308, www.batharms.co.uk, doubles from £80, B&B