The Stag at Stow

People come from all over the world to stay at The Stag at Stow and it's not hard to see why. This is a pub that lives up to its marvellous setting. Stow is one of the most photogenic of the Cotswolds' beautiful little towns and even by local standards, The White Hart Hotel is as pretty as a picture. It could also fill a whole chapter of a book on architecture. Parts of it date back to the 12th Century, it was a coaching inn from the 14th Century and there are two Tudor priest holes upstairs. The front of the building is relatively recent - merely Georgian! There is a front bar which is popular with locals, a small side lounge which visitors find irresistible and a large back bar, which includes the oldest part of the building. The White Hart also boasts a small beer garden and a restaurant, in an extension built in Victorian times, which has an extensive menu catering for a wide range of tastes and pockets. If you are intending to stay overnight, there are five rooms to choose from, but try to book early because this is always a popular hotel. It's the kind of place people regularly come back to. Some come back hoping to meet The Stag at Stow's non-paying guest, a friendly ghost whom the locals have nicknamed 'George'. He sometimes manifests as a vertical white light after closing time in the bar, but only rarely appears as a figure - and then apparently for a reason. The good news for George - and everybody else - is that there isn't much at The White Hart that anybody would want to change.