White Hart Somerton

Rooms

Stylish and eclectic, all rooms have amazingly comfy beds, Egyptian linens, and luscious Ubiety products.

At the front of the pub, Large Room 1 is light and airy thanks to gorgeous dual aspect windows. Medium Room 2 has soft, feminine pale lemon tones and steps leading up to an ensuite with beautiful claw-foot tub.

Super Room 3 is the show-stopper, with a fabulous four-poster and in-room claw-foot bathtub backed by a cool mosaic wall. Antique-style furniture and big beams remind you of the building's long history, and restored sash windows overlook the 13th-century church.

If you're happy without a view, we thought Small Room 4 was the best value. Despite the name, it felt spacious, with a French-style bed and fabulous walk-in shower.

Those needing twin beds should book Small Room 5 (a quiet and simply decorated room) or Medium Room 8 (lovely New-England-style tongue-and-groove panelling). Be aware that the latter has the kitchen’s extractor fan outside its window, though this should stop around 11pm.

Our favourite, with its hand-printed balloon wallpaper, was Medium Room 6, overlooking the terrace. Also charming is Medium Room 7 with beautiful dream catcher-feather wallpaper, and a bathroom adorned with flying ducks.

Features include:

• Central heating
• Coffee / tea making
• Cots available
• Hairdryer
• Toiletries
• TV
• WiFi

Eating

With Tom Blake, ex River Cottage head chef, overseeing the group, we had high hopes for the imaginative upmarket pub grub, and it totally delivered. Menus list all of the artisan West-Country suppliers (sustainable Bridport fish, Pitney veg) and the bar serves all English beers and ciders.

We Sunday lunched on old spot pork belly - delicious crackling, sweet apple sauce and a dish of merguez spiced aubergine, chickpea fritter and beetroot ketchup. The friendly team recommended, if we could fit it in, a dark chocolate bread & butter pudding, toffee & cinnamon sauce with vanilla mascarpone. Definitely a good call.

Evening meals might include buttermilk calamari or a veg sharing plate with marinated courgette. For the main, perhaps go for an informal stone-baked flatbread pizza (nduja, pepperoni and honey) or a or wood roasted garlic mushrooms with pumpkin seed pesto and ricotta.

In the morning, breakfast was served on the sunny terrace. Our baby son was offered warmed milk and his own portion of scrambled eggs (there’s a daytime kids' menu, too). We went for a slightly more decadent version: chorizo sausages, creamy scrambled eggs and hearty toast, washed down with cloudy apple juice. Sat there with the Sunday papers and fresh coffee, we really felt on holiday.

Features include:

• Bar
• Breakfast
• Kids' meals
• Organic produce
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Explore Somerton's thriving arts scene, little boutiques, and beautiful 13th-century church. An ancient Saxon town, there's also an old Market Place and various alms houses. Although do bear in mind that, like a lot of small towns, many shops close on a Monday
  
• Further afield, the pub team can recommend country walks and sites to visit - they have a number of local maps and guidebooks
  
• Clark's Shopping Village (a 15-minute drive away in Street) has a plethora of high street and designer outlets, while Shepton Mallet's Kilver Court has a Mulberry outlet shop (30 minutes' drive)
  
• Glastonbury's National Trust-managed Tor gives panoramic views of the Somerset Levels, Dorset, Wiltshire and Wales. And don't miss the iconic town's ruined abbey
  
• Other local National Trust properties include Lytes Cary (a medieval manor house), Stourhead (magnificent gardens) and Barrington Court (a Tudor manor house, with an arboretum)
  
• For an afternoon activity, the pub team can organise bike hire, horse riding lessons, or golf. Fishing, clay pigeon shooting, hunting and tennis are also available
  
• Kick back and sample the pub's fine selection of local ales and ciders

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Birdwatching
• Cider tasting
• Cycling
• Fishing
• Golf
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Horse riding
• Museums / galleries
• Plantlife / flora
• Shopping / markets
• Tennis

Kids

The White Hart is family friendly; our baby son was welcomed with open arms - instantly making us feel relaxed, too. There are no specific kids' facilities but there's a small garden and Somerton has a public play area. If travelling with a baby or toddler, do bring a monitor - as soon as the team saw ours they asked which room we were in and recommended where to sit based on where we’d get the best reception.

Best for:

Babies (0-1 years), Toddlers (1-4 years), Children (4-12 years)

Family friendly accommodation:

All but the Small and Medium rooms can hold an extra bed or baby cot, note that no room can take a family of four. Super and Large room categories have bathtubs

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available

Distances:

• Airport: 1 hour (Bristol)
• Shops: 2 minutes

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

The White Hart is set in the small town of Somerton in Somerset, southwest England - convenient for the A303 and M5.

By Air
Bristol (49km) and Exeter (77km) are the nearest airports. Both have good links from other cities within the UK and Europe, but if you're coming from further afield you'll probably arrive at London Heathrow (240km).

By Car
Being in rural Somerset, you'll want to either bring your own vehicle or hire a car. The pub is an hour's drive from Bristol or around 3 hours from London, and there's a free long-stay car park in Somerton.

By Train:
Castle Cary is 18km away and Bridgwater is 29km away - both have good links from Exeter, London Paddington and other UK cities - see Seat 61 for more details. London Heathrow is linked to London Paddington by the high-speed Heathrow Express rail line.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

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