From the moment I emailed Keith and Val, the owners of the Emsley Guest House, about their availability for this past week - July 29 to August 1 - I knew this was a special place. I booked it based on the reviews here at TA and was not at all disappointed. Ridiculously close to, and easy to find when coming from, the train station, it is about a 3 minute walk with heavy luggage for a very jetlagged person flying in straight from LA nearly 24 hours before.

When I arrived, the owner Keith sat me down in the lovely little lounge with a map of the town, on which he outlined a suggested walking tour, restaurants and sights and where they were, and he recommended a lot of various activities and explained how to do them. They recommended the official town walking tour, which we did do and for 5 pounds really enjoyed it - they recommended it because they had actually just taken it a few weeks prior and said that it was great - so you know with their recommendations that they are coming from their personal experience and approval. All of their restaurant recommendations worked out well also, none were too terribly expensive.

My friend and I were in the Norfolk room - on the top floor (which means going up two flights of steep narrow winding steps), comprised of 2 separated single beds. The room is tiny, barely room to move around, but absolutely spotless and charmingly decorated. There was plenty of room in a closet for clothes and things, two little tables, a hair dryer, digital alarm clock, small TV getting 4 basic channels, mirrors, coffee and tea supplies, tissues, and a helpful little fan - even though it was only in the 70s when we were there and cooler at night, it was nice to run the fan just for circulation, since it got a bit stuffy being on the top floor. The beds were very comfortable, but do note that there was only a blanket, no top sheet, so if it had been much warmer, it would have been hot at night.

The bathroom was equally as small but equally as clean and useful. The shower is tiny but good pressure and controls, I especially liked the fact that the shower head was on a hose so you could take it down and move it around.

Breakfast was, as one might expect, fantastic. Every night you could fill out a different little "menu" telling them exactly what you want and when you want it between 8-9pm since it was made to order. The little breakfast room was so quaint and each of the 5 rooms has its own little reserved table. For the food, there was a little buffet with help-yourself orange juice, water, yogurt, bananas, grapefruit, and variety of cereals. Tea and coffee were made to order - the coffee being in a french-press pot made special for each table - really nice special delicious touch. I had scrambled eggs, hash browns, and toast every morning with some other things from the self-service table.

All in all this is a very special establishment. Keith and Val pay attention to the details - remembering that my friend liked mushrooms and things like that. They were readily available for any questions we had and were always willing to help and just chat in general. Take note that there is a 3% charge above the quoted price to use a credit card but we paid cash and had no problems. If you have a laptop, ask Val for the wireless info to connect to their network - I didn't even ask for it, she saw me typing on my computer in the lounge after I arrived and she offered it up to me. That was a nice unexpected touch that made it helpful. Something to be careful about is the stairs - if you are someone who has trouble with them, keep this in mind. They did bring my luggage up for me upon my arrival but not upon my departure. Also, check-out is promptly at 10am - a little earlier than we are used to in the states - so also keep that in mind. Other than that, I would have to nit-pick to find anything to even remotely complain about.

The B&B's location is great, nothing in town is more than 10 minutes walk and everything is easy to find. Our room was facing the back so it was really quiet, but aside from street noise such as cars and trucks, I don't imagine rooms on the front would be too terribly noisy. They have free parking at a lot right across the street, and have all kinds of tourist brochures and guides in the lounge, even including some restaurant discounts.

If I ever go back to stratford-upon-avon, I wouldn't even look anywhere else but the Emsley Guest House. Thanks Keith and Val for a perfect start to my 6-week European vacation!