Better and better: the top 10 B&Bs in England
This week, the shortlist for England's best bed and breakfast will be revealed - but we've already sent our ruthless hotel inspector, Walter F Stowy, to see if they're up to scratch.

No 1 SALLYPORT
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

I was on my way to my room on the top floor when Elizabeth Middlemiss showed me her suite, The Smugglers. Wow. I’d never seen anything like it in a B&B before: a huge room, lit by big windows and home to an oversized sofa, a widescreen television, a DVD player and all manner of artful flourishes. The curtains appeared to be made of suede. Suede! “How much?” I cried. “Well, it’s a bit more expensive,” she admitted, “£95 a night, including breakfast.” “How much?” In London or New York, a room like that would set me back £400. “Including breakfast,” Elizabeth ventured. Now I know that in order to test the true mettle of an establishment, a reviewer should check in to the cheapest room. But I’m sorry, readers. I failed.

The bed: as much a throne as a place to sleep — home to a big leather headboard, oversized pillows and expensive linen. The accompanying bathroom was a treat, too: my morning shower was heavier than an Amazon rainstorm. 10/10.

The breakfast: there’s a wide range of cooked dishes (I had eggs benedict) as well as home-made bread and jams. 9/10.

The decor: the other rooms were also gorgeous. 10/10.

The service: easy-going and intelligent. Elizabeth knows when to leave you in peace, too. 9/10.

The location: probably the best-preserved historic town in Britain, Berwick should by rights be a Unesco World Heritage Site. Within three minutes of leaving Sallyport’s front door, you’ll be standing on the medieval walls, looking out across the mouth of the River Tweed. 10/10.

Do they do dinner? Yes, but not on the night I stayed there. The “rustic Provençal suppers” cost £29.50 a head.

Value for money: 10/10.

Does it deserve its nomination? You bet — I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, or at the very least to the top floor of a luxury Manhattan hotel.

The winner is ...

… No 1 Sallyport. Berwick is a criminally underrated place for a holiday — the kind of history-drenched town you’d expect to find in Brittany or the Dordogne, not England — and this is the perfect perch from which to enjoy it.