Seven of us are arriving at Heathrow at noon and picking up two cars. We have two nights on the road before getting to our rental house in Penzance. We intend to stop at Stourhead from Heathrow and want to stay in the area the first night. Would welcome any suggestions for reasonably priced accomodations with four rooms. Also, suggestions for places to stay the second night between Stourhead and Penzance.

I don't have any personal recommendations for specific places, but as I and others have mentioned on this forum previously, about the best Web site to consult for B&Bs in the UK is Smoothhound. If noone suggests particular places, this would be a very good resource.

Ann

There is very little at Stourhead so you might struggle. Why don't you try Shaftesbury (Dorset) a delightful little town, not far off the main road? Their email address is tourism@shaftesburydorset.com

A friend of mine told me about here She stayed there a couple of weeks ago and said it was delightful. She particularly mentioned the breakfast and one meal. I know she was a little disappointed with another meal. I can't remember whether it was lunch or dinner but I think it was Sunday lunch (and she is in France now so I can't ask her). I would qualify that by saying she is a superb cook herself and a harsh judge of other people's fare. However, she raved about everything else and had taken her family there specifically to visit Stourhead so it must be within 10 miles or so of there.

It may not fit your budget (and may not have rooms available) but the Spread Eagle Inn at Stourhead is a wonderful option and gives you access to the gardens both before and after the public opening hours.

http://spreadeagleinn.com/

It is a wonderful place to stay and well worth a 'splurge'.

Leonard

I am delighted to hear that the Spread Eagle has improved. It used to be lovely. I was there about 7 years ago and it was then a dump - full of noisy bikers and smoke and appalling food. I used to live in the next village to the Stapleton Arms and it was always a lovely pub - very typically English!

I want to report that we had a nice experience at The Old Police House B&B, North St., Mere. Gilly Gristwood was a delightful hostess. As we needed four rooms, our friends stayed a few miles down the road in a different B&B. The two hostesses told us to go to the General Inn pub, which we did, and enjoyed a typical pub meal. We spent the next morning at beautiful Stourhead.