Although we live less than 10 miles from Yarcombe, we decided to do an overnight stay at the Belfry as a birthday treat - and it was far from disappointing!! We arrived later than we had hoped, but were warmly welcomed by Neil, shown the location of the downstairs rooms and then to our room at the top of the stairs - Coleridge.

Having deposited bags and outer wear, we headed downstairs to the lounge and Neil soon appeared to offer pre-dinner drinks. He brought two very acceptable gin and tonics, stayed for a couple of minutes to chat and then left us to our own conversation. It transpired we were the only guests that evening, so had all the facilities to ourselves, making the experience very special.

Dinner was served in the well appointed dining room, warmed by a log burner. Lighting levels were just right - not too harsh, but not so dim as to leave you wondering what was on your plate. Lovely ambience. I had the potted confit duck, served with raison bread and vanilla poached pears to start - nice concept by personally, given that the bread had some sweetness, I would have preferred the pears not to have been sweetened as well. For main I had the stuffed pork, which was lovely, but the portion size defeated me! Finally, I had the fondant chocolate with salted caramel ice cream - absolutely perfect, well portioned, not overly sweet - unctiously delicious. As we were finishing our meal, Sarah-Jane appeared and offered to do a later breakfast for us, as we were the only guests. Having completed our meal, we retired to the lounge to finish our wine, before going back to our room.

Some reviewers have said the rooms are a bit small. Obviously I can only comment on the Coleridge, but I would say that for a 'restaurant with rooms' the room size is generous. It is dominated by a huge leather clad sleigh bed, which has to be one of the most comfortable 'hotel' beds I have ever slept in. The room has floor to ceiling windows on one side, being the top portion of an arched window of white and red stained glass and the wall behind the bed is decorated with boldly patterned wallpaper. There is a sofa, dressing table and wardrobe. There were two fan heaters in the wardrobe, one of which we used for half an hour to give a little more warmth, however, we turned it off before settling to sleep. It was nice to have a 'hotel' room that was not overheated.

The en-suite bathroom is small but adequate, with full size bath tub, over bath shower, basin and wc. Full size L'Occitane bathroom products are there to use during your stay.

Breakfast was a tour de force - 2 fruit juices or water, selection of five cereals plus muesli and granola, two types of fruit compot, yogurts, preserves and marmite, and then a choice of cooked foods - full english (or mix and match of the various components) smoked fish, eggs cooked how you'd like, toast, coffees and teas.

Constructive criticism -

+ would have been nice if Neil had introduced himself by name when we arrived
+ main course portion sizes are too generous (even defeated my husband) - you could never leave here hungry!
+ don't understand the red walls in the Coleridge en-suite. They clash with the green flooring and look a bit messy. A pot of magnolia should do the trick!
+ we weren't asked about bedding preference and there appeared to be a mix of feather pillows and hollow fibre. Feather doesn't cause an issue for us, but I know people for whom they would.

Really Loved -

+ The selection of drinks in the room, particularly impressed with the one-cup size filter coffees (Cafe Express). There were a choice of teas including herbal, hot chocolate, bottled water and wine (chargeable).
+ The fridge at the foot of the stairs, where you can help yourselves to orange juice, apple juice and fresh milk at any time - glasses and jugs on top of fridge. Also a selection box of teas to choose from.
+ The fabulously comfortable bed and high quality linens.

Suggestions -

+ perhaps some local honey on the breakfast table
+ house wines might be a nice inclusion on the wine list

Overall summary - this is a lovely place to stop over or spend a few days. Food is very good and excellent value. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending and we will certainly be visiting again ourselves.

Once again I have managed to find a hidden treasure. As soon as we arrived we could feel the warmth. We were met by Sarah-Jane who showed us to the Tennyson Room, then disappeared to make coffee in the Guest Lounge, and also the most delicious Ginger Cake which was very welcome! The Tennyson Room itself has a wonderful stained glass window that almost fills one wall. Although small, the room is very tastefully presented, and spotlessly clean, with more than the usual creature comforts. Amongst these, there was even a selection of boiled sweets. The bed is one of the softest I have slept in in a long time.

This is a building that dates back to the early 1800's and much has been done to preserve that including the old beams. Personally, I think the magic is still there. The bathroom no longer has the shower, but that was no disappointment, as the full size bath with tons of hot water was so much better!

The restaurant was superb with the food cooked fresh to order. Sarah-Jane certainly knows her seafood. The Sea Bass was excellent as a main, with Sorbet between each course. When it came round to Breakfast, I have rarely seen such a selection, but can recommend the Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Egg.

My final words? Sarah-Jane and Neil demonstrate a very genuine desire to please their guests, which is somewhat hard to find these days. It's just a shame that we only had one night in their company. Thank you both for your hospitality.

Whilst i understand a small part of the criticism about this Resaurant with rooms, it should be acknowledged that this is a Listed building and there are things that the owners cannot rectify.
There was heavy condensation on my windows (Keats room) and yes the walls are thin. However, it strikes me that this is the sort of place that will attract quiet, considerate people. I too could hear the creaking stairs, lights going on next door and some conversation. All in all though, I had a perfectly restful night in a lovlely bed.

The small touches were impressive; a warm welcome, tray of tea and cake on arrival, optional bottle opf wine in the room. I was instantly relaxed; hot bath and a snooze before dinner; really nice.

The food was excellent, all homemade and of a consistent high standard. I had Sea Bass which was lovely. As was the hazelnut merengue dessert.

I always make a final correlation between my experience and what i paid. A very comfy night, 3 course meal and a generous g and t, not to mention the tray of tea and cake, plus an exquisite breakfast, all for well under £100 housed within a quaint building with modern touches, in a beautiful part of the world? Would go again in a flash

Lovely location on a hillside in a tiny village, good for visiting Honiton. Stayed in the twin Shelley room which was slightly on the small side but beds were comfortable (although some of the wallpaper needed tidying up and the washbasin was cracked). Had a nice dinner, the monkfish was very well cooked and they brought a cider sorbet before the main course which was refreshing and tasty. Settled down for a good night's sleep and got this...until 2.45am when I was woken by the guests in the room next door (Byron I think). They had music on and were talking - unfortunately because the stud wall was so thin (I don't even know if it had plasterboard on as it was just hardboard underneath the wood-chip) the music was loud and I could almost make out what they were saying. When asked in the morning how our stay was I replied with a couple of good points but said that I'd been woken up by the noise from the adjoining room. Initially, the owner denied there was a problem with the wall but later in the conversation admitted the insulation was poor - as well as saying that she expected guests to be respectful about noise. When we suggested she put signs up as there was a problem with noise (we could also hear people coming down the stairs, a bit like in a youth hostel), she said she didn't want the hotel littered with signs (although there was one on the back of the door saying 'Please don't slam the door'). The owner also became rather defensive, talking about the money that she and her husband had spent on the hotel and how hard she worked. Unfortunately, her response showed a lack of understanding about the interruption to my sleep and, I felt, a lack of hospitality - the two basic things I ask for from a B&B are a decent breakfast (which I did get) and a good night's sleep (which I didn't get).