Great British Pub Stays: Our Favourite Inns for a Weekend Away

The pub-with-rooms is one of Britain's most underrated accommodation formats. Not a hotel with a bar attached, not a chain with a fake-traditional frontage — but a proper pub that happens to have bedrooms upstairs: real ale on handpump, local food on a small menu that changes with the season, and a landlord who can tell you where the good walks are and which table in the bar is worth sitting at.

At their best, inn stays offer something a hotel can't: the sensation of being genuinely inside the life of a place, rather than visiting it from the outside. You eat in the bar with the locals. You hear the conversations. You wake up to a breakfast cooked by whoever runs the kitchen, in a dining room where the other guests are still talking about the walk they did yesterday.

These are the qualities a good inn must have before it earns a place on this list: real ale (not keg-only), food cooked from actual ingredients (not reheated from a catering box), no chain ownership, and a reason to be where it is — a village green, a riverside, a fell-side setting that you wouldn't swap for a Premier Inn just because the parking is better.

What to Look for in an Inn Stay

Before we get to specifics, a few things that distinguish a genuine inn from a pub that's installed some beds:

• The bar should be used by locals, not just guests. If it empties out after dinner, the inn has lost its connection to its community.
• The food should reflect where you are. A Cotswolds inn should have Gloucestershire Old Spot on the menu. A Yorkshire pub should have locally reared beef. Food that could have come from anywhere is a red flag.
• The rooms should be simple but right: good mattress, proper curtains, no carpet-bombing of scatter cushions, functioning shower pressure. You don't need a spa; you need a room that lets you sleep well after a long walk.
• Book by phone if you can. A landlord who answers their own phone and knows the rooms personally is a better sign than a slick online booking portal.

The CAMRA Good Beer Guide lists hundreds of pubs with rooms across Britain that have been assessed for real ale quality. It's the most reliable starting point for finding inns where the beer actually matters.

Eight Inns Worth Booking

The Woolpack Inn, Slad, Gloucestershire

Slad is a small village in the Stroud valleys of Gloucestershire, famous primarily as the setting of Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie. The Woolpack was Lee's local; he drank there until shortly before his death in 1997 and his table is still there. The pub has been rescued from near-closure by owners who understand what it is: a plain, unsentimental Cotswolds pub with Uley ales on handpump, straightforward food, and a terrace looking down across the valley. The rooms are simple and the location is perfect for walking the Cotswold Way.

The Tan Hill Inn, Arkengarthdale, North Yorkshire

The Tan Hill Inn sits at 1,732 feet above sea level and is the highest pub in Britain. In winter, it gets cut off by snow with some regularity — the landlady keeps supplies in, and stranded guests have been known to stay for days. In summer, it's a checkpoint for walkers on the Pennine Way and a destination in its own right for those who want to say they've had a pint in Britain's most improbably situated pub. The rooms are straightforward, the ale is Theakston's, and the view from the car park — across the high moor in every direction — is one you won't find at any hotel.

The Crown Inn, Churchill, Oxfordshire

Churchill is a quiet Oxfordshire village on the edge of the Cotswolds, and The Crown is the village pub done correctly: low beams, local ales, a menu that leans on seasonal produce from nearby farms, and rooms that don't try to be something they're not. It's a fifteen-minute drive from Chipping Norton and a good base for walking the Evenlode Valley. Warren Hastings was born in Churchill in 1732; the village church is worth a look for the view from its hillside position.

The Pheasant Inn, Stannersburn, Northumberland

The Pheasant sits beside Kielder Water in the Northumberland forest park — the largest man-made forest in England, and one of the darkest sky areas in Europe. The inn is a proper family-run pub that has been here for decades without getting trendy: local ales, straightforward home-cooking, and rooms that are clean and functional rather than design-led. Kielder Observatory, a short drive away, runs public astronomy sessions on clear nights; the combination of an evening in the pub, a walk in the dark forest, and an hour at a telescope is one of the better British weekends you can put together for modest money.

The Glenelg Inn, Glenelg, Highland Scotland

Glenelg is reached via the Mam Ratagan pass — a steep, single-track road that drops to a tiny village on a sea loch across from the Isle of Skye. The inn has been running for decades and serves as the social centre for a scattered local community. Local seafood, Highland cattle grazing across the road, and the remains of two Iron Age brochs within walking distance of the village. The Glenelg–Kylerhea ferry (one of the last manually operated turntable ferries in Scotland) runs in summer across to Skye.

The Halfway Bridge Inn, Lodsworth, West Sussex

The Halfway Bridge sits in the Rother Valley between Midhurst and Petworth, in the part of the South Downs National Park that most people drive straight through. It shouldn't be driven through. The rolling, wooded landscape around Petworth is exceptional walking country, and the Halfway Bridge is the inn you should be staying in while you walk it: local ales from Langham Brewery, excellent seasonal cooking, and rooms in the converted barn that are comfortable without being fussy.

The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire

The Fleece is owned by the National Trust, which sounds like it should be a warning. It's not. The pub dates from the 14th century and has been in continuous use since, and the National Trust has preserved rather than sanitised it: the pewter collection on the bar is original, the bread oven still works, and the asparagus festival in May (the Vale of Evesham is the centre of English asparagus production) is one of the most genuinely local events in rural England. The pub doesn't have rooms itself but there's self-catering in the village — worth mentioning because it belongs on any list of inns you should visit in your lifetime.

The Traquair Arms Hotel, Innerleithen, Scottish Borders

Innerleithen sits in the Tweed Valley between Edinburgh and the Borders, close to Traquair House (the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland, with its own brewery). The Traquair Arms is the village hotel that anchors the community — a proper bar, local Border ales, food that takes the local lamb and beef seriously, and rooms that are unpretentious and comfortable. The surrounding area has become a significant mountain biking destination (Glentress is nearby) but the landscape works equally well on foot: the Southern Upland Way passes through the valley.

Tips for Booking an Inn Stay

Book directly when possible. Calling the pub directly often means flexibility on rooms, better local knowledge from whoever answers, and occasionally a room that isn't listed on the booking platforms. Many smaller inns only put a portion of their rooms online.

Ask about midweek rates. Inn rooms are often significantly cheaper Monday to Thursday, and the pubs are quieter — a better experience if you're going for the atmosphere rather than the weekend energy.

Check what's included in the room rate. Some inns include breakfast (and it's worth having); others treat it as a separate charge. Ask when you book.

Arrive in time for dinner. The pub kitchen closes earlier than a hotel restaurant, and arriving at 8:30pm expecting a full menu is a disappointment you can avoid.

Bring cash. Not universal, but some rural pubs still prefer or require it. Check before you go.