The Black Lion

Part of the excellent East Anglia-based Chestnut group, the Black Lion is a small Georgian coaching inn that's been updated beautifully: wooden floors throughout and artfully mismatched furniture all combine to suggest a comfortable house in the country where you're one of the most important guests. There are 10 rooms in all, most of which overlook the village green, categorised as Good, Better and Best, plus a family room with an additional bunk-bed room. Even the entry-level rooms are a reasonable size, and all have king-size beds, en-suite bathrooms with tubs and toiletries (one has a standalone shower, too). They also have good Wi-Fi, Freeview TVs, tea and coffee (with Nespresso machines), homemade biscuits and still and sparkling water.  Dogs are welcome in all rooms – and indeed everywhere else.

Downstairs, the pub remains a nice place for an early evening pint and has seating that spills out onto the green during summer, while there's a next-door dining room and two further dining rooms across the lobby, one of which opens out on to the inn’s back garden where there is more seating (and where they serve summer barbecues). The menu that's deliberately British and seasonal, with a focus on East Anglian produce; it's moderately priced and hearty rather than posh, divided between pub classics and slightly more refined options, with local ales and English wines to wash it all down. They also offer lunchtime sandwiches, while rates include a made-to-order breakfast with a choice of a Full English, fruit and yoghurt, eggs various ways or just a breakfast sandwich. All nicely done and delivered.

Finally, there are the joys of staying not only in this part of Suffolk but also in Long Melford, which has quite a lot of attractions of its own, ranging from the National Trust property of Melford Hall right across the street to more family-orientated Kentwell Hall around the corner. You could also spend some time wandering up and down the village's long main street peeking into antique shops. But perhaps the nicest thing to do is the walk to nearby Lavenham, where there's plenty more to see and do – an easyish eight-mile round-trip partly along a disused railway line.