The Great Bustard

I’ve travelled to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and the Vatican. However, I am guilty of ignoring the impressive tourist attractions on my doorstep. Stonehenge is something I have craned my head to look at when driving past on the A303 on my way from London to Somerset, but I have never considered actually visiting — until my weekend with Mr Smith at The Great Bustard. 

This Wiltshire pub has been transformed into a cosy boutique hotel, and while the village of Great Durnford is so small it doesn’t even have a shop (bar the hotel's miniature farmshop), you are only 15 minutes away from some of the country’s most storied historical sites. Alongside the iconic prehistoric monument, the Magna Carta is kept at Salisbury Cathedral. I was so in awe of my visit to Stonehenge that I spent the next few weeks reeling off facts about it to anyone who would listen. (Did you know, the bigger stones are as heavy as four African elephants?) 

The Great Bustard is a refined take on the classic pub with rooms concept — another time-tested British tradition — with comfortable, design-led bedrooms and a more sophisticated menu than you’d find in your typical local. Named after birds (a running theme throughout the property), the rooms have a calming quality to them, with oatmeal-hued panelled walls, rattan rugs and striped upholstery. They are intentionally pared-back (no country florals here), with super-king beds, thick wool curtains and a neutral palette, all in place to encourage a weekend lie-in. But one thing worth setting an alarm for is breakfast, as this was probably the highlight of our stay. The buttered crumpets and freshly baked sourdough are the perfect fuel for a day of country walks along the River Avon, admiring the surrounding greenery as you go.

The restaurant is clearly a hit among Wiltshire residents, as you’d struggle to get a last-minute walk-in table on a Saturday night. Although I have seen it described as fine-dining, the menu is all about fresh takes on pub classics. The shepherd’s pie croquettes with HP Sauce would likely confuse any international travellers, but they are a playful twist on the hearty stomach-liner. If pub grub isn’t for you, the wood-fired pizzas are also real crowd-pleasers. 

The bar area has all the hallmarks of a country watering hole, with traditional curved wooden armchairs, exposed beams, a cocooning green palette, a roaring fire and a number of golden retrievers reclining across the stone slabs. Although both spaces have the same menu, the dining area has a more contemporary feel, with a hatch so you can see into the kitchen and panoramic windows that open out onto the stylish beer garden. Thanks to the olive trees, terracotta planters and whitewashed walls, this terrace is exactly where you want to be for a heatwave. If it wasn’t for the rain, I’d have stationed myself here with a pizza every night. 

The Great Bustard is a small property, with just 10 bedrooms, but it does have one cosy spa-treatment room, where therapists use Durnford Estate products created with botanical ingredients by the neighbours. Every treatment ends with a herbal tea made from rosemary, lemon, mint and lemon verbena picked from the garden — a thoughtful detail that honours the hyper-local approach that is a running theme throughout this hotel.

The restaurant follows a farm-to-table philosophy with seasonal ingredients also plucked from the Great Durnford Estate on your doorstep. You can take a taste of Wiltshire home with you, as tucked at the bottom of the pub garden is a charming potting shed that sells chutneys, jams, oils and beauty products created right here. This is the sort of charming addition you’d expect from a chocolate-box village, and it complements the rest of the property — a modern, minimalist take on a farmhouse stay — perfectly.