Hort's Townhouse

Worth getting out of bed for

Nearby St Nicholas Market is worth a prowl for foodie bits and offbeat souvenirs. The Stokes Croft neighbourhood is enduringly community-focused, with its local artist-run shops, vintage stores and clothing boutiques smattered with colourful street art. Down at the harbourside, M Shed is a lively museum charting local people’s history and the Arnolfini hosts globe-spanning contemporary arts exhibitions. For act two of your cultural tour, catch a play at the Bristol Old Vic. And it’s worth the trip a little further afield to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge – the view from the Clifton Observatory over the Avon Gorge makes it prime picnic territory, perhaps while pondering the magnificence of the name Isambard.

Local restaurants

A short wander away, Wapping Wharf has a thriving indie dining scene, from vegan delis to chin-drippingly dirty burgers. When in doubt, make for Magari, a cosy Italian restaurant where the pasta is made daily with Cacklebean eggs and sauces pop with West Country produce.

The menu changes monthly at Marmo, but you can always expect fine local produce, spun into elegant plates and paired with organic wine at this owner-run spot just round the corner from Hort’s.

For lunch on the hoof, head down the road to St Nicholas Market. When faced with competing wafts from the spectrum of street food stalls, getting stuck in indecisive limbo is a real danger, so we’ll take one for the team and recommend La Lola for its sizzly Spanish comfort food.

Local cafés

This’ll put a pep in your step, coffee snobs – speciality roastery Full Court Press, which serves filter and espresso from a rotating line-up of top-shelf beans, is a sub-60-second stroll from the hotel.

Local bars

Gentlemen’s club styling can lean gimmicky, but it’s difficult not to feel dapper nursing a whisky-laced craft cocktail on one of the Milk Thistle’s burgundy chesterfields – and the seasonal specials are so inventive, we’ll even excuse a wall-mounted stag head or two.