The Bull & Swan Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2LJ

Christoph also owns the William Cecil Hotel, a few doors up St Martins hill, but the rooms at the Bull & Swan in no sense play second fiddle. There are nine altogether, not huge but supremely comfortable, and each as wonky as the next, with rolling floors and bump-your-head beams as standard. All are trimmed in dapper white linens, and the ornate hand-carved beds, sourced personally by Christoph from Rajasthan, add a dash of panache. There is a “classic” single, with shower only, two “classic” doubles, while two others are “chic” doubles, and the four “luxury” doubles are roomier and have either come-hither free-standing bathtubs or luxurious rain forest showers. With the two rooms downstairs themed – one on Newton, with antique science paraphernalia, and one on Marco Verrio, the Italian master who painted the state rooms at Burghley House, the remaining seven are named after a debauched member of the Order of Little Bedlam – ‘Wild Horse’ for the Honourable John Noel; ‘Greyhound’ for the Earl of Gainsborough – and their lordships would no doubt approve of the organic flavoured vodka offered as a treat by every bedside. How decadent can you get?

As well as that vodka, rooms come with local coffee from Palmer & Palmer, and tea pigs as well as cafetières. Plus Egyptian cotton bed linen and Pharmacopia Citrus smellies everywhere you look. Oh, and if you’re really lucky a mysterious Grey Lady in Room 5, hovering at the end of the bed.

Flatscreen TVs and Sony docking stations in all rooms.

A full-tilt “Burghley breakfast” or lighter options including eggs Royale, eggs Benedict and smoked salmon with scrambled. There is a heaving buffet table on the side.

Eat informally amid the hubbub of the bar, where sauces and cutlery come in trugs on the table, and where you can expect to find every home comfort on head chef Phil Kent’s menu, including a wholesome pie-of-the-day with garlic confit mash and Lincoln Red sirloin with stout-battered onion rings and Cropwell Bishop Stilton sauce. There’s generally a whole shoal of fish among the specials, and the interesting salads are a feature too: ham hock with poached duck egg for example; or pear, cucumber, feta and walnut. Don’t embark lightly on the groaning sharing platters: the ‘Farmer’s Board’ might just be the world’s mightiest ploughman’s, while ‘From the Sea’ comes with smoked salmon, smoked trout, whitebait and fat haddock goujons. Both are immense. The pared-down weekday lunchtime deal is a steal at £8pp with a main course and tea or coffee.

Breaded goat’s cheese crottini with roasted red pepper coulis
Spiced Cromer crab cakes, fennel slaw and caper berry salad
Burghley estate venison burger
Pan-fried halibut fillet, wild mushrooms, saffron potatoes, buttered greens
Seasonal crème brulée, brandy snap biscuit, £6.50

A set three-course menu featuring pork, lamb or beef roasts and three other mains is served from noon-6pm on Sundays (£13.95/£17.95/£21.95 for one, two and three courses), plus salads, sandwiches and nibbles.

The team take part in the Burghley Fine Food market (August Bank Holiday), hosting a scotch egg stall where they have 5 flavours of their famous runny Scotch eggs for sale.

Breakfast: 7am – 9.30am (Saturday & Sunday 8am – 10am)

Lunch: 12 noon – 2.30pm (6pm Saturday & Sunday)

Dinner 6pm – 9.30pm (10pm Friday & Saturday; 9pm Sunday)

Bread – Hambleton Bakery, Exton (www.hambletonbakery.co.uk)
Cheese – Stamford Cheese Cellar (www.stamfordcheese.com)
Steaks – Nelson’s Butcher, Stamford (www.nelsonsbutchers.co.uk)
Pork and sausages – Grasmere Farm, Deeping St James (www.grasmere-farm.co.uk)

The ale offer is exceptional here: there’s always toothsome Adnams Southwold plus three local guests: it might be Jeffrey Hudson Bitter, named after a notable local dwarf; or Astral, brewed up the road in Bourne. Oakham-made Grainstore cider is tapped straight from the barrel downstairs, while the gins are a particular favourite of owner Christoph – especially Pinkster. A new streamlined roster of reds and whites, put together by Liberty Wines, is going down very well indeed: nine are offered by the glass.

These are as classy as the rest of the place: Bull & Swan famous runny Scotch egg with English mustard; home-made organic Godminster cheddar and chive sausage roll; Nelson’s the Butcher pigs in blankets with cranberry jelly.

11am – 11pm (Friday & Saturday 11am – 12 midnight; Sunday 12 noon – 10.30pm).