The Pig Near Bath is about a 20-minute drive from both the harbor city of Bristol and the popular tourist attractions at Bath, a Georgian spa town built around hot springs that also had given rise to an extensive ancient Roman settlement. A portion of the grassy, lime-studded Mendips has been designated a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the countryside lends itself to trekking, cycling and horseback riding.
Rates:
Rooms start at 149 pounds ($223 at $1.50 to the pound).
The room:
My small room was more chic than shabby, with an old-fashioned phone, larder stuffed with snacks like rosemary almonds and smoked bacon potato chips and a comfortable bed. A surprisingly engaging selection of books, including a guide to kitchen gardens and manuals on pig, bee and hen keeping, sat on a deep windowsill. The Wi-Fi signal in my room was weak, but the hotel’s center of gravity is in its common spaces, like its cozy bar, billiards room and cloistered courtyard, not the guest rooms. I slept in the profound silence of the deep countryside.
The bathroom:
My spacious bathroom was tastefully appointed in a modern-Victorian style with an old-fashioned pull-chain toilet, heated towel rack and locally produced goat’s milk soaps from Milla Maddern.
Amenities:
The hotel offers a full range of spa services, including massages.
Dining:
The Pig Near Bath describes itself as “a restaurant with rooms” and lives up to that billing. The restaurant, located in a replica of a Victorian greenhouse, specializes in what the hotel calls “simple British garden food” — food either grown on the estate or within a 25-mile radius. The atmosphere was relaxed, and great pains seem to have been taken to lend a casual tone to the décor and flatware. The small plates allowed me to sample many different dishes without filling up, such as home-smoked bacon, venison carpaccio and a “feather blade” beef steak that was so tender I could cut it with the side of a fork. It was one of the best hotel meals I can remember, but pricey — dinner for two could easily eclipse the cost of the room.
Bottom line:
About 90 minutes from London by train, the hotel is convenient for a weekend gastro-getaway and is a welcome smart option for visitors to Baths.
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