Not all English country hotels are of the manor-house variety. Feversham Arms, as the name may indicate, was once an old Yorkshire village pub. These days it’s a bit more than that: after a very thorough makeover the present-day Feversham Arms is a thoroughly modern seventeen-room contemporary-style boutique hotel, complete with a destination spa and an upscale restaurant serving a modern cuisine crafted from quality local ingredients. Sounds like just the thing. Of course, this being Yorkshire, the Feversham Arms offers an exceedingly unpretentious point of view. There’s no cheeky, jokey artwork, any forced wordplay — just a luxurious modern interpretation of a classic country inn. The interiors are crisp and pleasing but not off-puttingly high-design, and though the general atmosphere is one of high comfort, it never feels needlessly opulent or showy. Slightly unexpected at this latitude is an outdoor pool — heated, of course. The restaurant makes the best of the local producers, and while the experience is already quite relaxing enough, the spa is there to cap it all off. And if you’re in a mood to wander, from here it’s child’s play to get out and see the Yorkshire’s famous moors. How to get there: Feversham Arms is less than an hour from Durham Tees Valley airport (MME) and about an hour from Leeds/Bradford (LBA).