Stow House

Stow House

, Aysgarth, Aysgarth, North Yorkshire.

Stow House is a boutique bed and breakfast set in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales just a five minute walk from the famous Aysgarth Falls. The bedrooms are dreamily comfortable and the bathrooms wonderfully indulgent. There's a living room with a very well stocked honesty bar, snug and dining room - all with woodburners.

Trees and a lawned garden surround Stow House, but the countryside goes on for miles in all directions.  This is the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Every morning you can look forward to a full English breakfast, but if that's a bit much you can create a cut down version or go for the smoked salmon. All the produce is locally-sourced, the bread is home-made and the orange juice is freshly squeezed every morning. In the evening you are free to make the most of the honesty bar and around 6.30 in the evening Phil is likely to be exercising his cocktail-shaking skills with some inspiration from the Savoy Cocktail book. For dinner there are two very good pubs with great food within walking distance and other excellent restaurants that are a short drive away. If you're planning on imbibing, Sarah or Phil will arrange a taxi for you.

The seven bedrooms are all named after a piece of original art hanging there. Then the rest of the decor has been designed around that. One room is on the ground floor so is ideal for anyone who struggles with stairs. All but two of the rooms permit dogs (provided they remain on the floor and well-behaved of course). Other rooms variously feature king-size beds, sofas, oodles of space and big bath tubs in the room, as well as showers in the en-suite. All the rooms have a view of the dales and include a television, DVD player, bathrobes and a hair dryer.

The Yorkshire Dales are renowned for their natural beauty so once you have seen the Aysgarth Falls you really need to move on to White Scar Caves and Malham Cove. For more man-made attractions (still of a very rural nature) try Bolton Castle, the Black Sheep Brewery and towns and villages like Askrigg and Richmond. West Burton is really special, considered to be one of the most beautiful villages in Yorkshire (and there's a great pub there!).