Would our ruthless hotel inspector Walter F Stowy agree?
Sometimes, Mrs Stowy can be a stubborn old bird. “Are you kidding?” she cried, when I suggested she join me on my latest assignment. “You want me to go all the way to Cornwall with you, FOR ONE NIGHT IN A STUPID B&B?! Slog 550 miles in a car to test polycotton sheets and dodgy plumbing?” Well, that’s not quite how I’d put it. The proposition had, I thought, been a little more enticing than that. St Ervan Manor, the B&B I was heading for, has just bagged one of English tourism’s most prestigious awards. It is, officially (and you’ll need to take a deep breath for this one), Bed and Breakfast of the Year in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence, 2006. As the Travel section’s hotel inspector-in-chief, I’ve been testing the winners of this particular accolade for a couple of years now, and if previous entrants were anything to go by, St Ervan promised to be a humdinger. None of this information had the slightest effect on my wife, though. She heard the three dread words — Bed and Breakfa
