The key to a memorable hotel stay is a great welcome and such was my arrival at the excellent Maison Talbooth hotel on the Essex/Suffolk border was that within ten minutes I felt utterly at home.

The signs were good from the start, with a smooth check-in done in seconds in the entrance hall on an iPod, rather than having to stand at a reception desk filling out endless forms. Even better, once I was shown to my room I was invited to explore the rest of the 12-bedroom hotel as all the as yet occupied rooms had their doors left open, meaning you could have a good old nose around.

In hotels as individually-designed as Maison Talbooth, it’s great to be able to see what else is on offer for future trips (or even to change if you prefer another room which is free) and so I spent a happy half hour wandering between Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Betjeman and other poets who had given their names to each bedroom. Framed poetry from the bedroom poet was hanging on the bedroom wall, so being in Wordsworth, we got On Westminster Bridge and Daffodils, while our neighbours got Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Each room, while different, had a luxurious feel, with thick carpets, immaculate furnishings and the soothing tones of Classic FM coming from every bedside digital radio. The rooms ranged from standard (Kipling) up through superior and deluxe and ended up with the Principal Suites of Shakespeare and Keats, both of which have their own private terrace. Continue reading Maison Talbooth: an almost perfect stay at a lovely Essex country house hotel →