http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/15867
Big rooms with giant beds and nice cotton bedlinen. And smart flatscreen TVs with integral DVD player. But you will need to bring/buy your own as the selection downstairs is dire. Nice reading room too, but again, would advise own books, unless you are keen to read musty mid-century non-classics. Breakfast was good (though served only between 7-9am in the week).

What really made this place for us was the fitness facilities. Genuinely friendly staff meant a really great atmosphere. Good gym (not huge, but decent range of equipment- soon to be upgraded and enlarged apparently). Fantastic big 20m pool open until 9pm and lit sympathetically. Large sauna and steam room.

And, as well as grass tennis courts they have real tennis courts. Very odd, but the two that they have at Prested Hall represent about 1/40th of the world's total. The current no. 2 and no. 8 play there and you can bag a free lesson!
We paid £184 for two nights mid-week which seemed really reasonable.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/15867 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13658
Very precise cooking and fantastic flavours.

Arbutus also offers the chance to try any wine (sub 100 pounds) in a 250ml carafe.

The best thing is that, while main courses cost about £15, the set lunch is only £15.50 for three courses.

Staff are young and friendly and you can sit at the bar to eat if you don't want to sit at a table. Ask for seats near the window - it is quite gloomy at the back of the restaurant.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13658 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13657
It is operated by GLL so facilities are spartan but it is fab and clean. Entry is less than £4 and the pool is open from 6.30am (mon-fri) or 8am to 8pm.

Lockers are poolside (20p) and changing rooms and showers are inside and out. There is also sunbathing space around the pool.

It is a blissful place to plough up and down: no gimmicky wave machines or even inflatables here.

Be aware, though, that if it really really rains, then you will be thrown out of the pool as visibility is reduced.

Sad irony that London summers mean that it is too wet to swim.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13657 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13618
As well as a pool room and cosy rooms inside, the pub garden looks directly out on to the green.

They are currently building rooms so you can stay overnight.

And there is a pick-your-own practically next door with raised strawberry beds so you can pick without the effort of bending over!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13618 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13617
The menu is put together by a chef who really understands flavours- combinations might read oddly on the page, but they taste wonderful.

There are always tons of dishes that we want to try and they are always really different. It's a good place to come to be inspired.

The wine list is not too shockingly priced either.

You can pop in for just a cup of coffee and a biscuit, but, frankly, I'm too greedy to stop at that!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13617 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13616
It's not too done up, has a lovely long zinc bar, and serves strong cocktails and proper pizzas.

Plus there is seating out the front to people watch.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13616 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13615
Erratic service, especially when the owner/manager is in, mars it. Plus she wears really strong scent.

But I still end up going back there, and when it is good it is very very good.

Afternoon tea with cocktails in the garden of an old power station is certainly unusual.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13615 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13606
I just wish that I'd carried more jars of it home.

Pork candyfloss sounds vile, but is good. It's actually quite like a fluffy biltong. You can't ship it home so eat up while you're in Laos.

Tamarind will also organise morning trips to the market to look at the amazing variety of fruit and vegetables and also be grossed out by pig skin masks at the butchers.

Carolyn (who jointly runs Tamarind with her boyfriend Joy) is a fount of food knowledge.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13606 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13570 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13570 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13561
All adds to the charm of Hythe, which is a beautiful place - surrounded by gentle hills with a canal running through it (you can hire boats to row gently up and down, although occasionally the river is closed for an amateur fishing competition ... it's that kind of place).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13561 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13559
The Imperial also has a great gym and spa complex (to keep the golf widows happy, as it also has a beachside course).

Rooms are not special but are adequate.

For me the gym facilities absolutely made it.

Staff are really friendly and food is much much better than you would expect.

Ask for a seaview room.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13559 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13557
He is really close to the shore and it made my Saturday to see him swimming around.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13557 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13555 Food is good, though not super-cheap (about £9 for a curry and about £2 for rice). Service is friendly.

But really it is all about the location on the river.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13555 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13380 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13380 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13375
An old Victorian building is set up a windy driveway and looks over acres of sculpture gardens. These are set to surprise and entertain and wandering down to the brook is a great way to work up an appetite for dinner/ breakfast. The art is inside as well, with a large purpose-built gallery and pictures and works throughout the hotel.

Food is simple, fresh, local and filling. And, best of all, it is very near to Saunton Sands, Woolacombe and Putsborough beaches.

Sometimes the hotel is booked up for weddings or for art conferences but it makes for a really unusual and reasonably priced stay.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13375 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13373
The restaurant serves French-accented Indochine cuisine in a lovely garden courtyard.

Seemed popular with diplomats when we were there.

Food is excellent and we felt very very full when we left, but very virtuous as we had helped people just by eating!

They also have a cafe and bakery called Baguette et Chocolat]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13373 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13372
The (dis)advantage is that you are out of the hurly burly of the frenzied old town, which is where most tourists stay. For that you get a rooftop pool, gym, flawless service, huge breakfasts and a really peaceful night's sleep. You also get Americans on business travel shouting at the staff, but nowhere's perfect.

The hotel is next to the Opera House, five minutes' walk to the lake and another five to the edge of the old town.

It was less than $100/night (averaged it out with super cheap Hoi An guest house, so it did not feel too extravagant!)]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13372 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13371
Wish we had: everywhere takes them and it saves queuing in hot banks.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13371 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13370
You are out of town with infrequent bus journeys in and out. They start late so you have to pay extra if you want to see the alms giving or to climb Mount Phousi at dawn.

If you want the map that they show you at check-in you have to pay extra.

The rooms are shabbily furnished and you can hear everything your neighbours are doing.

Service is poor and orientated towards the dozens of Japanese package holidaymakers who dominate the hotel.

While the scenery is absolutely magnificent, there is nothing to do, no gym, no pool. (I think generally Lao are against swimming, so this is probably not surprising.)

The walk into town is over an hour along a main road and not very nice.

We left after a night and regretted spending that long.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13370 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13369
The 3 Nagas is definitely in the $100/night camp but it is worth it, unlike some others. It has been built from scratch in beautiful local wood by two French men and every detail has been thought about.

It is truly lovely and small enough that it remains personal - tour groups were nowhere to be seen. And the breakfast croissants are the best that I have had anywhere! Breakfast and free internet access from their computer are included in the room rate. Staff are friendly and each room has a sitting area (either onto the private garden or the veranda).

We had room 14 which was lovely, but it might be worth asking about the garden rooms as they looked lovely. The hotel is on the main road in Luang Prabang and en route for the monks' alms giving. The only downside, which everywhere in town has, is that you are near the wats. They are beautiful by day, but the chanting starts early and Thai donors supplied one near to us with loudspeakers. Think the record was 3am- 7pm. It may make buddhists serene, but I was not!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13369