DEVON - England 2012 and the Best of Wales - page 376

Gipsy Hill Lane (via Pinn Lane), Monkerton, Exeter, Devon EX1 3RN. www.gipsyhillhotel.co.uk.
& 01392/465252. Fax [phone] units. £60-£100 double. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Ameni-
ties: Restaurant; bar; babysitting; room service. In room: TV, hair dryer, Wi-Fi (free).
St. Olaves Hotel In a creamy white Georgian townhouse with a secluded
walled garden, St. Olaves is a special place to stay. The location is ideal, within a
short walk of Exeter's sights, especially the cathedral, which is so close that you
can hear its bells. Outside, it's pristine, while inside it's been tastefully furnished
with a mix of antiques and modern furniture. Guest rooms are spacious and com-
fortable, done in tones of ivory and blue. Bathrooms are not huge, but they have
power showers. The Treasury Restaurant has an interesting, French-influenced
menu and a refined ambience.
Mary Arches St. (off High St.), Exeter, Devon EX4 3AZ. www.olaves.co.uk. & 800/544-9993 in the U.S.,
or 01392/217736. Fax [phone] units. £100-£125 double; £165 family room; £155 suite. Rates
include English breakfast. MC, V. Free parking. Amenities: Restaurant (Treasury Restaurant, p. 374); bar;
room service. In room: TV, hair dryer.
INEXPENSIVE
Park View Hotel This hotel, near the heart of town and the train station, offers
cheap and cheerful rooms with no frills. The tall Georgian townhouse has comfort-
able but plainly furnished rooms in varying sizes (the layout of the old house means
that some are bigger than others). Some have teeny tiny private bathrooms, but
cheaper rooms use shared bathrooms. The usual fried English breakfast is served in
a slightly crowded dining room that looks out over the hotel's pleasant garden.
8 Howell Rd., Exeter, Devon EX4 4LG. www.parkviewexeter.co.uk. & 01392/271772. Fax [phone].
13 units, 10 with bathroom. £60 double without bathroom; £72 double with bathroom. Rates include
English breakfast. MC, V. Free parking. Amenities: TV lounge. In room: TV.
Woodbine Guesthouse This centrally located B&B has sunny small rooms at a
reasonable price. In a Victorian house near the town's landmark clock tower and park
(some guest rooms look out over the park's green fields), the Woodbine is certainly
convenient. Its rooms are small (you won't be able to swing a cat here), but they have
all you need, including Lilliputian en suite bathrooms. Fried English breakfast is
served in the cozy dining room.
1 Woodbine Terrace, Exeter, Devon EX4 4LJ. www.woodbineguesthouse.co.uk. & 01392/203302. Fax
01392/254162. 5 units. £66 double. Rates include English breakfast. MC, V. Free parking. In room: TV,
free Wi-Fi.

9

DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK
213 miles SW of London; 13 miles W of Exeter
Ominous and brooding, this vast, sprawling moorland park undulates and curves for
miles, stretching across the county from Exeter in the east to Tavistock and Oke-
hampton in the west. As you travel across it, the landscape constantly changes, rising
to steep hills (as high as 621m/2,037 ft.), and then plunging into deep gorges with
rushing water. It is distinguished by its flora of spiny moor shrubs, and the scented
heather that rouges the hillsides in the summer and turns black in the winter.
Famously, Dartmoor is home to herds of wild ponies that nibble peacefully on the
heather and occasionally block traffic on the tiny, winding roads. The area's wild look
led Arthur Conan Doyle to set his spookiest tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles, here.