The Cotley Inn

Style

Roll with the barrels

Setting

Blackdown beauty

Top-notch pub fare, a panoramic terrace and warm welcomes will leave you wondering how the Cotley Inn could improve on its hospitality laurels… The answer lies in an overhauled Grade II-listed stables block, now home to four cosy rooms awash in country charm and original features. Lunch and dinner come with a side of smugness when you can slope back to your room at siesta or bed time. This boutique stay in Wambrook puts you in the bucolic heart of the Blackdown Hills just outside Chard, with easy access to Lyme Regis and the South West Coast.

Facilities

Rooms

Four.

Checkout

10.30am. Earliest check-in, 3pm, but flexible as availability allows.

More Details

Rates include Continental breakfast (fresh pastries, ham, cheese, local yoghurts, fruit, nuts and cereals) with self-service (and freshly laid) boiled eggs.

Also

The gravel grounds and listed buildings of the Cotley Inn are sadly unsuitable for wheelchair users.

Hotel Closed

During low season (October to May), both the restaurant and hotel are closed on Sunday evenings, Mondays and Tuesdays.

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

On-Site Restaurant

At the Hotel

Free WiFi, communal fridge and ice machine, wellington boots to borrow. In rooms: TV, Dyson fan, Nespresso machine, tea-making kit, free bottled water, waffle bathrobes, and Bramley bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

All rooms come with a marvellous meld of old-meets-new charm, featuring exposed stonework, ceiling beams, and modern muted hues as well as high-spec linens and textiles. The stables block, although transformed, is Grade II-listed, meaning the original low doorways are still intact, but open onto interiors that are light-filled and surprisingly airy. We love the Holt for its mezzanine bedroom in the eaves with a slipper bath tub. The cosiness of the Nest and the Drey has us planning a staycation for one… And if you want a little indoor lounge space with your king-size, the Den is all you need.

Packing Tips

Deciding on your kind of Somerset is the key to good packing: whether you’ll be planning cliff-hugging yomps, seaside strolls, or mooching around market towns will dictate the garb you require.

Also

The restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday, but pizzas are still served in the garden. Wednesday to Friday, the pub closes between 3pm and 6pm.

Children

Welcome. Both the Den and the Holt have a sofa-bed that will sleep up to two little Smiths.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

The sun terrace for lunch; the furthest-left salon for cosy winter dining; or the beer garden for pre-dinner drinks.

Dress Code

Anything goes, from been-out-rambling casual attire to dressier threads that add a touch of glamour when supper calls.

Hotel Restaurant

Breakfast (for guests only) is set out in the appropriately titled breakfast room, a converted skittles alley overlooking the kitchen garden. There’s a Continental spread of cereals, yoghurt, fruit, nuts, ham, cheese and fresh pastries, plus a boiler into which you can pop a freshly laid egg for soft-boiled deliciousness. Not that you’ve come here for the toast soldiers… The Cotley Inn is popular whether you’re staying or not, and does a roaring trade for lunch and dinner, serving refined comfort food and modern British plates. Dining spots range from a series of indoor pub salons, to the paved sun terrace, or across the way at picnic tables in the turfed beer garden, where you can tuck into small plates and sourdough pizzas. There’s no pretension to the menu, which is seasonal where possible, and features plenty of locally sourced ingredients (some from the pub’s kitchen garden), as well as eggs from the resident hens. This is, however, elevated pub grub, so the burgers may be venison, the mac ’n’ cheese possibly flecked with wild garlic, and the slow-roasted pork belly could well hail from pigs reared at the farm. Sunday lunchtimes have their own menu, featuring traditional roasts, as well as fish and chips, and a Caerphilly-and-Homity wellington. If you’re a meat eater, it’s worth noting that all the beef is supplied from the surrounding estate and butchered on site. And a deftly curated wine selection ensures the drinking is as palatable as the dining.

Hotel Bar

As well as the traditional country pub that serves the terrace and tables indoors, in the beer garden a converted railway carriage takes care of more-casual dining, serving up sourdough pizzas and alcoholic slushies to punters at picnic tables on the lawn. This is your sole dinner option when the main restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Last Orders

Breakfast is 8.30am–9.30am. The restaurant is closed on Sunday evenings, Mondays and Tuesdays, but you can still grab a pizza in the garden. Wednesday to Sunday, lunch is from noon–2pm (2.30pm, Sunday); dinner is 6.30pm–9pm (8pm, Sunday).

Room Service

This pub-with-rooms stay is all about enjoying the convivial atmosphere of the Inn, with drinks and snacks only ever steps away from your room.

Planes

Exeter (a 30-minute drive) and Bristol (one-and-a-quarter hours away by road) are the nearest regional airports, with some international arrivals. London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports are both just over three hours’ drive from the Cotley Inn.

Trains

In order of proximity, Axminster and Crewkerne are the nearest train stations, with connections from London Waterloo, each less than 25 minutes away by road from the Inn. Taunton, served by GWR from London Paddington, is a 35-minute drive from the hotel.

Automobiles

In this bucolic corner of Somerset, relying on public transport would be foolhardy, so you’ll want your own set of wheels, and there’s a free outdoor carpark at the Inn.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

This southerly slice of Somerset in the Blackdown Hills puts Devon and Dorset delights on your doorstep, too. The market town of Axminster is a short drive away, as is River Cottage Kitchen & Store. Lyme Regis, too, is easily in range – home to the waveswept Cobb harbour wall, super-scenic mini golf, an excellent promenade and some of the steepest gradients of any shopping streets in West Dorset. Eastwards from here, the Unesco-listed Jurassic Coast (and accompanying South West Coast Path) stretches all the way to Purbeck, enticing fossil hunters, cold-hardy swimmers, and wandering pebble-throwers to the sweeping shores of Chesil Beach. Forde Abbey, a 20-minute drive from the hotel, is a privately run former Cistercian monastery with 1,600 acres, a café and beautiful gardens worth a visit.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .