Behind its Georgian façade, The Queensberry is an up-to-the-minute boutique hotel — an excellent choice for a weekend break.

The hotel’s location in a quiet spot near the centre of Bath gives it an easygoing atmosphere from the start — parking difficulties are resolved by handing over the car keys and check-in takes place from an alcove near the entrance. You can also wander into one of the adjacent lounges and help yourself to whisky as long as you remember to sign for it — a nice way to relax after dropping off your bags.

Upstairs, bedrooms are large, with curtains thick enough to block out early- morning summer light. There are comfy sheets and pillows, widescreen TVs (albeit not the easiest to operate) and CD players. The long bathtub in our windowless but well- appointed bathroom was ideal for an afternoon soak. Room service was pleasing without ever stooping to fawning.

For something a little more substantial, the Olive Tree restaurant is in the basement along with the bar. Both are well signposted from the outside but difficult to find from within the hotel — it’s easy to wander into the kitchen by mistake. The food is great: delicious foie gras and chicken sausage, sea bass and monkfish.

The coffee, both in the evening and at breakfast, is also of a high order and the home-made marmalade well worth trying. Leather chairs and stark outlines make for even greater focus on what lies on the plate. The diners are a mix of the understated who come for local festivals, singles on business, the chairman of Somerset County Cricket Club, and those celebrating anniversaries.

Visitors to Bath like to get out and about, and The Queensberry is reinvigorated at weekends. The terrace at the back is nothing more or less than that and lacks the grandeur of the Royal Crescent, a six-hit away, but the owner of The Queensberry, Laurence Beere, can take pride in the fact that in other respects his hotel is similar to the Royal Crescent, where he was general manager.

Bottom line: Ivo Tennant paid £110 for a B&B room; B&B doubles from £105.

Need to know: The Queensberry, Russel Street, Bath BA1 2QF (01225 447928, www.thequeensberry.co.uk).

Access all areas: No, steps only to the entrance.

Room: 9 out of 10.

Food: 9 out of 10.

Service: 9 out of 10.

The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath

The grandeur may be a little faded, but the food and spa still impresses Lucy Tobin

The Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel, Sydney Road, Bath

A disappointing breakfast was more than made up for by the evening meal and spa

BACKGROUND

• Lucknam Park Hotel, Colerne, Bath

• Dorian House, Bath

• The Queensberry, Bath

• Milsoms Hotel, Bath

• Ayrlington Hotel, Bath

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