Special Places to Stay - More than a bed for the night

Back in the 1830s, this neat white cottage in a sweet North Devon village was the post office. Its thick stone walls have seen centuries of history; the rest is bang up to date. Fresh paint predominates in the tidy living room, where comfy taupe sofas cluster around a stone inglenook fireplace. A modern fitted kitchen has all the equipment you need to rustle up breakfast or crack a lobster claw – and a welcome cream tea from the owners – and you can eat inside around a folding table or spill outside to the large garden at the back. Upstairs bedrooms (one double, one twin) continue the theme of modern lines and uncluttered calm, with their simple wooden furniture and sea-green or washed-blue walls. There's a downstairs shower room and a small bath upstairs. Forget the car: you can pop to the little shop for croissants in the morning and dine on fresh seafood in Mortehoe's pubs and restaurants. Woolacombe's blue flag beach is close (surfing gets even bigger further down the coast) and there's the South West Coast path.