Country weekend at The Crown Inn

#Take12Trips got off to a splendid start this weekend! We enjoyed a thoroughly relaxing time at The Crown Inn, in Elton, on the Cambridgeshire / Northamptonshire border. I hadn’t been able to arrange the Parker diary to visit in December as hoped so we had been looking forward to a wintery mini-break for a while, and it certainly didn’t disappoint!

Quintessential English country pub

The Inn is perfectly located in a gorgeous little village.  Elton is 10 minutes drive from Peterborough and about 90 minutes from North London. But it is far away from suburbia – this is the countryside proper: no 3G (there is wifi, don’t panic), the smell of woodsmoke, fields of cows, absolute peace and quiet, tractors and a picture perfect village! The Crown is located just off the village green.  A really pretty building with a lovely thatch!  We arrived early evening on a Friday and the bar was bustling, with a roaring fire!

A charming bar

We have stayed in ‘restaurants with rooms’ across the UK and it has fast become our favoured choice. A buzzing bar, guaranteed good food and homely rooms – all delivered on a personal scale. The Crown absolutely ticked the boxes and comes recommended by us! The AA got here before us and it has its 5 well deserved stars!  Everyone we met that worked at The Crown was friendly and helpful and I always enjoy spending time with owners/managers and understanding more about their business, its great to visit somewhere that has it right, but also isn’t at all complacent either.  We were guests of The Crown, but I wouldn’t stay somewhere that I wouldn’t have picked myself, and this definitely fits our staycation/getaway ideal!

The Elton room

There are 8 rooms to choose from varying in price and with a choice of whether to include breakfast and a dinner. 3 of the rooms are above the bar and the other 5 are in a separate building. We were hosted in the Burghley room that was tucked away with its own private garden. Each room is different, we had a look round before we left, and all are high quality with Feather and Black beds and luxurious fittings. There are no boringly decorated rooms (nice quirks) and each has been put together thinking about ensuring a relaxing visit.

Every room is different, homely and comfortable

The management team are constantly tweaking and improving. It’s all been very well thought through and in the choice of rooms there is something for all tastes and the quality and detail means it is like a home from home!!  Mr P is now wondering about wall-papering one of the rooms in our bedroom with something expensive as a result…

Our luxurious room – The Burghley

Our room, along with private garden (a clear summer sun trap and somewhere to have a breakfast hamper if you choose), was very elegant and spacious.  On a freezing cold night we certainly weren’t cold – the buildings may be old but they hold their heat well!  The bed was comfortable and there was also a sofa (also a second bed for family visitors), an armchair, desk area, fireplace and a great sized bathroom with bath and shower, with Duck Island smellies (what else could you have when the address is Duck Street!).  Hidden away in a cupboard was a fridge and iron etc, so you could stay here for a while or on a work trip! There was plenty of lighting (my pet hate in any hotel room) and a rather snazzy coffee machine too which my husband particularly liked, as well as plenty of coffee and tea sachets and fresh milk in the fridge! There is free wifi throughout. You are able to call across to the bar and have drinks delivered, if you want to stay in your room.  We enjoyed a mix of the two – the bar area is lovely and welcoming, but the rooms are really comfortable and well-equipped that it was nice to sink into the sofa at the end of a long day, before heading over for dinner.  Where we live is quiet, but it was so peaceful here – we woke to bird song which is always nice!

The dining room

Dinner is served in a separate restaurant area off the bar which has recently been done up and looks good. Breakfast is also served here.  There is also a ‘snug’ area which is where we enjoyed lunch the following day!  The decor throughout is very relaxing yet grand, whether it was the porthole mirrors, the seating, the table plants or the shape of the wine glasses.  Everything is ‘just-so’ in a very pleasant way – a lot of thought has gone into everything, it retains a rustic feel!

A big fan of the snug!

We really enjoyed the menu – so much so we were back for lunch the next day. There was a good mix of staple pub grub and fine dining, as well as the daily specials board. The kitchen were helpful with allergies and whilst I didn’t have a pudding there were choices for me (beyond the usual fruit or sorbet!).  We enjoyed our food – I chose a fig, beetroot and goats cheese salad to start followed by pie of the day and Mr P went for ham terrine and fish of the day. Real variation to the menu and great tastes.  Service was slick and friendly at all meals.  For lunch, between us we had a soup and ham egg and chips – particularly good chips I must say!

A few foodie shots to tempt you!

It is always so key for breakfast to be good and it didn’t disappoint! Very enjoyable. Plenty of time to read the papers and enjoy our tea and coffee – the dining room is sunlit and warm, a perfect morning room. An ample spread of fruit, cereal and cold meats to choose from as well as a menu of cooked to order options. Mr P went for the full English and it was fresh and grease-free, I had smoked salmon, poached eggs and toast which was a perfect healthy start to the day!

Perfectly located for a morning walk

The location of this inn is superb for a no-hassle relaxing night or two away from London – we spent Saturday morning enjoying the countryside using a route I had found on the Internet. The inn is situated in gorgeous countryside (not too many hills happily) and we enjoyed lovely views as well as taking plenty of picture postcard shots of cows and pigs!  What I also discovered, looking at the map ahead of our trip, is that it is only 21 minutes drive from Rutland Sailing Club (and about the same distance the other way from Grafham Sailing Club).  So for anyone at either lake for a sailing event that wants comfort and to get away from sailing chatter and find somewhere rather lovely to stay, well, look no further!

We really enjoyed our stay here!  It’s an area that I hadn’t spent time in before but which I would now recommend.  The Inn is well thought out and really well presented and its obvious that little changes and improvements are regularly made by the team to ensure it stays on top of its game.  A property with great character and comfort where you are guaranteed a relaxing tasty time and to be looked after superbly!