An Inspector Calls… A review of Read’s near Faversham in Kent

An Inspector Calls… at Read’s in Faversham – where his room has a ‘distinct old people’s home feel to it’ and a tiny TV you need binoculars to see Read’s is a statuesque Georgian manor house just outside Faversham in Kent It won best restaurant-with-rooms in The Good Hotel Guide’s 2020 Cesar awards But the Inspector … Read more

An Inspector Calls… A review of Beechfield House in Wiltshire

An Inspector Calls… at Beechfield House in Wiltshire, which has a swimming pool and rooms with grand four-poster beds – but the dining room was ‘bleak’ with an ‘odd smell’ Beechfield House in Wiltshire features 19th-century Italianate architecture  The Inspector was impressed with the ‘tasty’ food and honesty of his waiter But the dining room lost … Read more

An Inspector Calls… A review of Native Bankside, London

An Inspector Calls… at Native’s ‘aparthotel’ in London’s South Bank where studios come with fully equipped kitchens and FREE food supplies Native has 16 sites in the capital and one each in Glasgow and Manchester  The Bankside branch near the Globe Theatre is a former Victorian tea warehouse The Inspector’s ‘premium studio’ cost £120 and … Read more

An Inspector Calls at London’s The Curtain where a ‘poky slit of a room’ costs an ‘excessive’ £263

An Inspector Calls at London’s The Curtain where a ‘poky slit of a room’ costs an ‘excessive’ £263 The Curtain is a six-storey brick hotel in London’s trendy Shoreditch area  The Inspector booked the lowest category of room and was charged £263 Red Rooster, The hotel’s Restaurant, is an outpost of a Harlem eatery  By … Read more

The Inspector reviews Gravetye Manor in Sussex

An Inspector Calls… A blooming lovely hotel nestled among 6,000 tulips with delicious (albeit fussy) Michelin-starred food on the menu The Inspector checked into Gravetye Manor in Sussex which was built in 1598 Jeremy and Elizabeth Hosking bought the manor nine years ago  At the restaurant there is a seven-course tasting menu on offer for £95 … Read more

An Inspector Calls… A good value and friendly hotel in easy striking distance of the New Forest  

An Inspector Calls… A good value and friendly hotel within easy striking distance of the New Forest The Inspector checked into the Lord Bute located close to the Dorset coast The hotel was once home to Lord Bute – a former prime minister in 1762/63 There are 13 rooms and the Inspector found his had a … Read more

An Inspector Calls… A review of Ye Olde Bell in Nottinghamshire

An Inspector Calls… Ye Olde Bell in Nottinghamshire is a ‘welcoming sort of place’ – but please turn down the radio Ye Olde Bell is a former coaching inn in Barnby Manor, near Retford  There are 60 rooms and people come from ‘far and wide’ to visit the spa The Inspector couldn’t quite forgive being … Read more

The Inspector reviews Mannings Hotel in Truro, Cornwall

An Inspector Calls… The friendly Cornish hotel and restaurant that’s popular with locals (but you wouldn’t want to spend a romantic night there) Mannings has 30 rooms and nine apartments fronting a car park The Inspector checked into an apartment which had a ‘whiff of old shoes’ The a la carte breakfast menu comes recommended over … Read more

Justice is denied ‘almost to point of being extinguished’, says the Chief Inspector of Constabulary

‘Appalling’ failures by the court system are causing disruption to trials and injustice to the accused, complainants and witnesses, Chief Inspector of Constabulary warns Sir Tom Winsor said ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ at conference in London Accused politicians of not caring about courts because it was not a vote winner Added that crime detection … Read more