Farthings Country House Hotel Taunton
This elegant 18th-century Farthings Country House Hotel Taunton is situated amid the quiet of the Somerset countryside, yet within reach of the M5, just 5 miles from Taunton and Ilminster.
Farthings Country House Hotel overlooks the village green and enjoys 3 acres of private and peaceful gardens. With a wonderfully relaxing and informal atmosphere, it is the ideal place in which to unwind.
Privately-owned, the family and its experienced staff invite guests to savour the warm hospitality and superb locally sourced food, cooked and presented in the AA Rosette-awarded Farthings Country House Hotel restaurant. The restaurant has direct access to the gardens, where drinks and canapes can be enjoyed on a warm summer's evening. In winter, enjoy the comfort and warmth of log fires in the cosy lounge or bar.
Each of Farthings Country House Hotel 12 en suite rooms is tastefully decorated and has all the facilities one would expect of a delightful country house hotel In the heart of Taunton.
Guests recommend Farthings Country House Hotel as one of the best hotels to stay in Taunton and offering an especially good breakfast.
Facilities of Farthings Country House Hotel Taunton
Bathroom - Toilet, Hairdryer, Shower and Bath
Outdoors - BBQ facilities, Garden, Terrace
Food & Drink - Restaurant, Bar, Breakfast in the room, Restaurant (à la carte) and Tea/Coffee Maker
Internet - Wireless Internet Hotspot is available in all areas and charges are applicable.
Parking - Free! Free public parking is possible on site (reservation is not needed).
Services - Room service, Packed lunches, Airport shuttle (surcharge), Express check-in/check-out, Currency exchange, Luggage storage, Laundry, Ironing service, Meeting/banquet facilities, Fax/photocopying and Bridal suite
Activities - Hiking, Cycling and Bowling
Media & Technology - Radio and Telephone
General - Newspapers, Non-smoking rooms, Soundproof rooms, Heating, Non-smoking throughout and Designated smoking area
Farthings Country House Hotel, Taunton: hotel review - By Fred Mayer, Telegraph
This old-school, traditionally furnished country hotel occupies a characterful Georgian house in a quiet Somerset village. Its strongest suit is its food, much of which is grown, and some of it reared, in Farthings' extensive grounds.
Location
In the off-the-beaten-track village of Hatch Beauchamp. The Hatch Inn village pub is 150 yards down the lane. Taunton, the nearest town, is seven miles away. The hotel makes a convenient stop-off if you're heading on down to the far south west on the M5 or A303.
Style and Character
With its decorative wrought-iron frontage and long sash windows, this former farmhouse, dating from the 1760s, has in-built character. Public areas – a welcoming bar, comfy lounge with squishy armchairs and log-burning stove, and fairly formal restaurant – are decorated in a traditional, country-house style. A pity about the displays of fake, artificial flowers (also in my bedroom), which rather lower the tone.
Outside, to one side of the property lies an attractive, flower-filled garden, with lawns, trellising and seating. To the rear lies less smart grounds, home to chickens, ducks, peacocks and peahens, vegetable plots and orchards.
Service and Facilities
Farthings is owned and run by experienced hotelier John Seeger. During my stay, the young staff who looked after me were capable, hard-working and friendly.
The hotel provides on-site parking, but no facilities beyond this.
Rooms
The 12 bedrooms are comfortable, and the larger Master rooms such as Bay, an expansive corner room with a bay window, sofa and a wooden spiral staircase up to its bathroom, are spacious. But don't expect cutting-edge design: the furnishings and décor are in a resolutely traditional mould, and bathroom units are old-fashioned. Fresh milk for tea/coffee is available in a communal fridge on the landing.
Food and Drink
Farthings' food, produced by long-standing chef Shaun Barnes, is good. Dinners cost a reasonably priced £26 for two courses, £32 for three courses, and the daily-changing menu is interesting and varied. Depending on the season, much of the fruit and veg is grown on the premises, and the hotel rears its own ducks.
I really enjoyed my seared duck breast, which was unusually accompanied by beetroot served three ways (roasted roots, sautéed leaves and a juice). For pudding I enjoyed a vast apple and cinnamon crumble, served with homemade plum ice-cream.
Breakfast – an appetising continental buffet plus various cooked items – was a cut above too. My cooked platter included home-cured bacon, homemade black pudding and eggs from Farthings' ducks. Jams are homemade too.
Value for Money
Cheapest double rooms from £55 in low season; from £110 in high season. Rates exclude breakfast (£8 continental, £14 cooked). Free Wi-Fi.
Access for guests with disabilities?
No bedrooms are wheelchair accessible adapted.
Family-Friendly?
Though the atmosphere feels quite grown up and there are no special facilities for children, families are welcome. Rowan is a large family bedroom.
Telegraph rating: 7/10
