Pining for a place to stay

9:23am Saturday 28th June 2008

Finding reasonably-priced accommodation in Harrogate isn't easy.

Jenny Laue checks out a good contender for travellers on a budget.

HARROGATE has a lot to offer - great shops, pubs and restaurants, plenty of galleries and beautiful public gardens, but because it's so popular with daytrippers, coach parties and conferences, it can be costly staying overnight.

Those on a budget should check out the Pine Marten pub on the outskirts of the town, which charges £75 per room - a bargain by Harrogate standards.

The pub dates back to the 1820s when it was home to Robert Wigglesworth, the creator of the world's largest telescope. It has been beautifully restored and is run by Innkeeper's Lodge Select.

The pub has 12 comfortable rooms, divided over two floors, all decorated in a neutral, contemporary style, with warm spotlights in the ceilings, fitted wardrobes and cool, stylish bathrooms, with natural limestone tiles from floor to ceiling and huge walk-in showers. The only clue that the building dates back to the 19th Century are the thick walls and the stone window mullions.

Apart from a big, comfortable bed, with sparkling white bed linen, the rooms also offer all the facilities that make an overnight stay at the Pine Marten so relaxing. All rooms come with tea and coffee making facilities, hairdryer, telephone, a flat-screen television with Sky TV channels and wireless internet access.

The hotel is located on Otley Road on the south side of Harrogate, just opposite Harlow Carr gardens. Step outside and you find yourself at the edge of the beautiful countryside for which North Yorkshire is so famous.

The pub garden, with its solid teak furniture and water feature, is a sun trap, enclosed on three sides and it boasts beautiful flowering plants and evergreen foliage climbing up the old walls.

A stay at the Pine Marten includes a complimentary, all-you-can-eat, continental buffet breakfast, which offers an impressive selection of cereals, yoghurts, fresh fruit, toast, bagels, muffins, croissants, jams and cheeses, as well as a variety of teas and freshly-brewed coffee.

The dining experience at the Pine Marten is very well worth a try, even if you are not a guest. The dining rooms have been decorated in a unique, quirky, rustic but at the same time contemporary style, which combines old-fashioned antler chandeliers and wood-burning fireplaces with chunky, copper-topped tables, squashy lounge chairs and coarse, hessian floor runners.

And the food is definitely worth recommending to anyone who likes simple but delicious food and quick service.

The menu includes things like pizza, steaks and pasta with a few more exotic dishes thrown in the mix to keep things lively. Light lunches and sandwiches are available from the bar.

The wine list is particularly impressive with a wide range of Old and New World wines to suit every occasion and palate.

And should any guest enjoy themselves so much they want to make a night of it, every room key has an electronic fob which allows entry to the pub after hours - another great little detail which makes the Pine Marten experience suitable for just about anyone.

* Rooms at the Pine Marten are charged on a per-room basis, not per person, per night, as is normally the case with bed and breakfast accommodation. Rooms are available at £75 and normally sleep two adults, but family rooms are also available. Main courses in the restaurant are around £15.

The Pine Marten, Otley Road, Beckwithshaw, Harrogate, HG3 1UE, Tel: 01423-533091. For room reservations call 08451-551551.

Good prospects

Peta King enjoys some fine food, good views and interesting culinary tales at one of Harrogate's most stylish hotels

IF a room with a view is desirable, then Hotel du Vin's location in Harrogate must be off the aspirational scale. Converted from no less than eight Georgian townhouses overlooking the wide green acres of The Stray and within minutes' walking of the best shops, the hotel has what is surely the most coveted address in this uberstylish town.

Once again, the HdV team has created their signature design: the exterior of the building retains its classic period features, while inside modern twists create a truly exciting destination.

In the entrance your attention is caught immediately by the swirling staircase of wood and steel - a popular wedding photo backdrop, I'm told - with glimpses of the sunny courtyard terrace beyond, perfect for al fresco dining.

The Champagne and Claret bar leads into the cool and stylish Bistro, a mixture of modern banquette seating and antique dining tables.

Good cutlery and linen napkins keep up the style score. Here, the elegance of the Georgian era melds seamlessly with 21st Century minimilistic chic, as in the way the beautiful sash windows are left bare to let the light flood in - and allowing the best opportunities for people watching.

Head chef Tom van Zeller has created a menu of sensibly-priced classic dishes, simply prepared and beautifully presented, and he not only mentions the producers, but also gives you their biography. You're not just eating their food, you're making new friends.

SO I learn that Andrew Voakes started making his medal-winning pork pies with machinery discovered in an old butcher's shop, his grandmother's pastry recipe and using meat from his family's Landrace porkers on their farm near York, and that David Atkinson is so particular about his Grimsby-based fish smoking business that's been in the family since the 1930s, that he'll climb up the chimneys himself to adjust the height of the haddock.

So I almost fear they'll be offended when I don't chose David's smoked haddock, with spinach, poached egg and hollandaise as my main course, or Andrew's pie and peas starter, but instead go for the wild Scottish salmon from the Swiss family Bleiker's Yorkshire smokehouse. As a starter this is a really generous portion, served simply with lemon and watercress.

My companion, Oliver, chose classic moules marinières to start and a fragrant wild mushroom and roquette tagliatelle with garlic velouté as his main.

But I couldn't disappoint Reg Johnson.

Now famous for their Goosenargh duck, the Johnson family have been producing poultry in the Ribble Valley for the past 30 years.

They mix their own feed for the birds, which is free from additives and antibiotics, and I can honestly say that the texture and flavour of the roast chicken breast was the best I've ever tasted.

The accompanying chantanay carrots, peas and broad beans were simply done and were a complement, rather than a distraction.

Highly recommended, I had a glass of Bacchus '06 from - Kent. Forget all that snobbery that turns its nose up at British wine, this ticked all the right boxes for me.

Puddings were a delicate vanilla yoghurt pannacotta with summer berry compote for me and, for Oliver, a sticky toffee pudding that was a nice contrast of fluffy sponge and gorgeously gooey sauce.

HdV Harrogate has 43 bedrooms, all decorated in the group's hallmark style - comfortable but uncluttered with natural shades of olive, slate and moss, which contrast dramatically with the startlingly white Egyptian cotton bed linen.

The jewels in the crown are the four loft suites, one of which, the Moet Vintage Collection, spans one end of the building and accommodates a giant bed, sofa and a 42ins plasma tv. The bathroom is equally impressive.

In the middle are two side-by-side rolltop tubs and behind a frosted glass partition a "party shower" - two companiable monsoon showers. Bring on the bubbly!

■ Hotel du Vin, Prospect Place, Harrogate, HG1 1LB. 01423-856800 www.hotelduvin.com Twin/double rooms from £99, Loft suites £270. Continental breakfast £9.95, English £13.95.

Lunch: plat du jour (two courses plus a glass of wine) £12.50; one course with a glass of wine and a cafetière £10.95. A la carte, two courses £15.50, three courses £17.50.

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