Up in the Olde Hotel

British interior designer Ilse Crawford has a knack for dusting off traditional English style without succumbing to cliché. For the Olde Bell, a newly refurbished inn in the English village of Hurley, in Berkshire, she combined classic materials like tweed, oak and felt with sleeker touches like Bestlite bedside lamps and modern dining chairs. Guests will find discreet luxuries such as Aesop bath products, retro-style Roberts radios and Windsor rocking chairs. But the real focus at the Olde Bell is the common spaces. “It’s all based around the table,” says Crawford of the inn’s public rooms. So the dining room has long, rustic tables (“with room for a roast,” says Crawford). In an outbuilding dating from 1135, guests can gather around small tables next to crackling fires. The chef uses ingredients from nearby purveyors, like Machin’s butchers in Henley, and has even been known to barter a meal in exchange for locally grown vegetables. Conveniently, the Olde Bell is within an hour’s drive of central London, making it the perfect stop for a pint of ale and some braised mutton chops (theoldebell.co.uk; 44-[0]1628-825-881).