The Crescent Inn, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

In the heart of Ilkley, on a prominent corner site on Brook Street, the principal road that runs down to the river and up towards the moors, you can't get more central. It's a busy place, beside traffic lights, and there's no on-site parking, but it's incredibly handy for all the town's attractions: shops, walks, local museum, and bars and eateries. The railway station is a five-minute walk. For history-lovers, there's the Manor House, the town's oldest historic building; for families, the riverside park; and for everyone, the wide boulevard of The Grove with its shops and Betty's famous Café Tea Rooms.

By car: around 1 hour 45 minutes from Sheffield, 3 hours from Birmingham and 5 hours from London.

By train: around 4 hours from London (via Leeds) and 2 hours from Doncaster. The hotel is a 2 minute walk from the station. Book trains to Doncaster.

The semi-circular building has Georgian good looks (though is Victorian) with large sash windows and a sweeping staircase. These have been boldly mixed with a sassy style in homage to its French-bistro restaurant: stripped-wood floors, pale grey staircase walls with silver-framed mirrors, soft grey and denim blue bedrooms, and a dining room with a Parisian vibe of colourful banquettes and vintage advertising posters.

As a pub-with-rooms, there are few hotel-style extras - not even parking, unless you've booked a suite. But the bar is spacious, which means apart from mealtimes and evenings, you can find a place to sit; if it's warm, there's a pavement terrace and rear courtyard. The restaurant has a loyalty club for discounts on meals - and a bottle of fizz on your birthday.

• Restaurant
• Bar
• Garden
• Free Wi-Fi

With pale walls and carpets, neat French Provençal-style furniture and flashes of greys and blues in headboards and throws, rooms have a fresh simplicity. Apart from the suites, none is particularly spacious, but they feel calm and uncluttered, and the beds are like sleeping on clouds. Bathrooms have bright-white metro tiling, most with bath and shower.

Room types: King, Super King, Superior, Suite

Key amenities: ensuite bathroom, TV, tea and coffee facilities, free Wi-Fi

There's a choice of dining: pub staples, such as steak pie and fish and chips, in the bar, and French provincial classics in the restaurant. Bistrot Pierre, Boeuf Bourguignon and steak frites are perennially popular, while other dishes include fishcake niçoise and confit duck leg and a rather delicious tarte au citron. There are also a couple of vegetarian options. The coffee is pretty damn fine!

Bistro Pierre: seasonal, French-style cooking. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner

The Crescent: fairly-priced wine list and local real ales