First, a confession: I rather like ‘Ye Olde English Inns’ above their more modern business hotel counterparts, so I guess that makes me biased towards places like The Bear. By no means is it perfect, or even close to it, but I really enjoyed my stay.

Having been quoted over £90 by the neighbouring Best Western (The Angel), I came across The Bear on the off-chance (it doesn’t appear to have its own website), and was quoted £65 room only (apparently they normally charge £80 but there was no chef when I went, so no breakfast). Not sure I’d pay £80, but for £65 I got quite a spacious room with a view over Chippenham’s market square (which has a certain charm) and a clean bathroom, carpet and bedspread. The bed itself was a bit on the hard side, but not uncomfortable.

In fact the décor was a bit better than I had expected for what is, basically, a pub with rooms – including real pine furniture, decent carpets and curtains and, whilst no flat screen TVs, at least a small... more