Pub with rooms Southwold, Suffolk | The Crown

Overview

Celebrated next-door brewer and wine merchant, Adnams, can take the credit for the stylish restoration of Southwold's central Georgian inn.

From the outside, the inn looks stately, all white paintwork, with a flying flag and a wrought-iron sign hanging over the pavement. Inside, the town's maritime past is echoed in a magnificent ship's binnacle, marine paintings and glazed screen in the timeless Back Bar, the perfect spot to peruse the papers over a pint of Broadside.

At the front, the dining room is a buzzing mix of contemporary wine bar, informal brasserie and English village pub, and the hub of local life. Here you will find the full range of tip-top Adnams beers, a cracking list of wines (16 by the glass), an innovative pub menu, and fourteen comfortable and very characterful bedrooms.

Rooms from

14 doubles/twin: £135

Good to know

Amex not accepted, Visa / Mastercard / Maestro all accepted
Disabled access to bar & restaurant
Alfresco & private dining
Parking available

Water and waves

Enjoy a pre-dinner stroll along Southwold beach, just 2 minutes from the inn, or follow the coast path south via the foot ferry across the River Blyth and through pretty Walberswick to historic Dunwich.

A touch of culture

Aldeburgh is famous for its annual classical music festival in June; Snape Maltings is the venue for the Snape Proms; and the Suffolk Herring Festival in Halesworth comprises arts, music, theatre and tastings.

Family favourite

Kids are welcome throughout the pub; they have their own 'Little People's' (under 10s) menu; and the spacious suite is ideal for families to hunker down in; children £20 a night.

Rooms

The 14 refurbished rooms ramble across several floors and are decorated in contemporary coastal style as befits the seaside location - the beach is just a stone's throw away. The rooms simply underline the thread of quality that runs throughout the brewery's flagship inn.

Classed as Cosy, Comfy or Extra Comfy, rooms include character beamed attic rooms and a spacious family suite; all are well kitted out with a mix of modern and antique furnishings, quality fabrics (striped upholstered headboards and jazzy wing chairs), soothing hues and charming touches such as colourful, cosy throws on big comfortable beds. Smart bathrooms continue the seaside feel with soft colours, wooden floors and posh Tyneham toiletries; room 11 has a walk-in shower and roll top tub.

Restaurant & bar

The Crown has long been renowned for good food and wine, drawing discerning locals and Londoner's up for weekend into the informal bar-cum-dining room for competent modern British cooking and sublime wines from the Adnams cellar.

Menus evolve with the seasons, the chefs working closely with local farmers and fishermen to ensure the produce is local and as seasonal as possible. For a light bite at lunchtime, perhaps tuck into devilled kidneys on toast. Look to the main menu for the likes of fish soup, potted duck, classic Ghost Ship battered cod with beef dripping chips and tartare sauce, Cromer crab, brown shrimp and dill risotto, whole black bream, braised fennel, roasted peppers and aioli, and spiced Suffolk lamb burger with garlic and rosemary fries.

At the bar, sup a decent Adnams brew - Ghost Ship, Broadside, Southwold Bitter and seasonally changing guest ale - or choose from the full range of keg and bottles beers from Adnams.

Things to do

Southwold's famous Adnams brewery is deceptive. From the outside it resembles many of the town's other period buildings, a reminder of Southwold's charming architectural heritage, but behind the striking Victorian façade are the impressive workings of one of Britain's most modern breweries. There's even a distillery. Book a tour and discover how Adnams creates the company's award-winning beer and spirits.

The Suffolk coast is a fascinating area for walking. This evocative landscape, visibly eroded and overwhelmed by the sea through the centuries, has many miles of secret paths and hidden tracks that were once the haunt of smugglers evading the excise men. It's a fascinating place of mystery, of moody reed marshes and wide, breathtaking skies. One of the most popular walking routes in the region links many of the Suffolk coast's great landmarks. The Suffolk Coast Path runs for 50 miles between Felixstowe and Lowestoft and takes in a variety of sea wall stretches, marsh, heath and foreshore.

Housed in two Dutch-gabled cottages, the Southwold Museum is a little gem on the Suffolk coast. The story of the town's fishing industry is told in fascinating detail and there is also a display of relics and items washed up on the shore here over the years.