|
Blending Elegance With Tradition - The Angel Hotel, Bury St EdmundsBy Gilly Pickup
Polite, friendly staff greeted me when I arrived and after the usual check in formalities, I was given the key to my room - 008. A porter plucked my luggage from my grasp and bade me follow him…. I dutifully followed him up a staircase, along a corridor, down some steps, along another corridor, round two corners, up a flight of stairs, along yet another corridor and finally down some more stairs…. Yikes! how far away was this room, I had to ask myself? Eventually we got there and with a flourish he opened the door to reveal a lovely, spacious room – but, after all the ascending and descending I couldn’t believe that it was on the ground floor! For me, this was a slight negative, because being a fresh air fiend, I normally like to leave the window open at night.
After freshening up, I made my way to the lounge – yes, I did take a few wrong turnings on the way – but when I got there was pleased to discover a pleasant area with plenty of squishy leather sofas and chairs to sink into. Here guests can choose a range of offerings from Italian cappuccinos through to the finest English loose leaf tea. With its log fire, this is a popular meeting place, particularly when the weather grows chilly.
To sum up, the Angel Hotel easily blends elegance and charm with tradition and comfort and is a great base for exploring the town and surrounding picturesque area. And what’s more, I have no doubt at all that Charles Dickens would still be impressed if he returned to spend time in the Angel Hotel today. The Angel Hotel, 3 Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
IP33 1LT, England All by Gilly Pickup |
|
TM
Slap
bang in the middle of the quaint English market town of Bury St Edmunds, this
ivy-clad former coaching inn dating back to 1452 has an enviable location. For
over 400 years royal visitors, actors and writers have come to stay here, while
that author-extraordinaire Charles Dickens took it one step further to write
part of his famous ‘Pickwick Papers’ whilst in residence and gives the hotel a
mention in his book. He was obviously jolly impressed by the town, describing it
as ‘….handsome ….. of thriving and cleanly appearance.’ The room he used when he
visited is still available for patrons with - so the story goes - the same bed
he slept in.
Anyway
no matter - as I surveyed the swishified, crisp, neutral comfort before me that
mere niggle dissipated. Every room offers all modern comforts including
telephone with internet function and voice mail, hospitality tray, remote
controlled TV, in house movies and hair dryer. Executive rooms go a little
further to include radio, CD players and play station. Three wide marble steps
led to the spacious spotlit bathroom with power shower over the generously-sized
bath. I was pleased to note there was a generous supply of toiletries, fluffy
dressing gown, complimentary slippers and all the fat towels you could ever
need. I loved the wash basin, instead of the normal run-of-the-mill-standard
affair, this was a fashionable glass bowl.
The
hotel has two restaurants. The award winning Abbeygate Restaurant overlooking
the square offers an extensive menu rich in imaginative English and continental
dishes. Delicious local fresh produce is used as much as possible. Menus include
such delights as Suffolk ham hock terrine with celery, walnut and apple salsa
and parsnip crisps; risotto of tiger prawns and crayfish tails with chilli,
coriander and lime; or hot smoked salmon with shaved beetroot and sour cream.
For those who want something more substantial, fillet of 'British Excellence'
beef with thick cut chips, garlic mushroom kebab, onion tartlet and red wine jus
will surely fill a gap and there is an ample selection for vegetarians including
sweet potato and aubergine curry with jasmine rice.
And
for somewhere completely different, the dramatically unusual Vaults Restaurant
located in the 12th Century undercroft and reputed to be part of the ancient
Abbey of St Edmundsbury, provides a unique, romantic setting in which to enjoy
moderately priced informal brasserie style dishes.