To The Manor Reborn

Traditional English country-house hotels are trading their stiffness for an increasingly informal vibe.

- Clive Aslet

With its thatched roof and a portico with wooden columns made from actual knobbly tree trunks, the charmingly humble Hex Cottage, on the edge of a forest in Suffolk, would have appealed to Hansel and Gretel. Inside, the décor is appropriately rustic, with rough-hewn tables and chairs, unpainted plaster walls, brick floors, and a wood-fired range that you have to keep lit if you want to have hot water. When I arrived, I felt beside the door for a light switch, only to realize that there wasn’t one. I fought a moment of panic when I realized there would also be no power supply for my laptop or cell phone.