The Dog & Fox
24 High St., Wimbledon, London; dogandfoxwimbledon.co.uk; 17 rooms from about $250.
Back when people got around on horse or on foot, public houses were among England's greatest resources. You slaked your thirst, loaded up on food for the next day's journey and spent the night in a warm, dry bed. Both the restaurant and hotel industries grew out of these establishments, although, in recent times, they focused more on beer-pouring than innkeeping. But as pub-closings have hit Britain over the past few years, some survivors are branching back out. And if the Dog & Fox is any indication, I hope we'll be seeing more pub hotels.
Location, location
Wimbledon is known for one thing – and that thing, along with a delightful museum devoted to it, is just a 15-minute walk from the D&F. But it's also just a lovely part of town. It's upscale, but not excessively so. The lovely Lawn bakery just down High Street serves "millionaire's shortbread," for instance, and it only costs £2.50 ($4.80). It's another 10- or 15-minute walk to and from Wimbledon station, which is about 30 minutes from London's core.
If I could change one thing
That walk from the station is short but uphill and arduous if you've got suitcases. It costs between £6 and £14 to take a taxi, depending on traffic; I think a free pick-up service for overnight guests would do wonders for D&F's goodwill.
Best amenity
The pub. It's more a gastropub than a Friday-night-fight pub, so noise doesn't travel up to the rooms. And there's something charming about ordering your joint of meat and your pints of bitter, and being able to retire upstairs at the end of the evening. Young's, the company that owns the D&F, is huge: It has more than 200 pubs. But it's only just getting into the inn business, and the D&F is one of the first half-dozen of Young's properties to be converted. And so far, they're doing it right. (I stayed at another one, the Alma in Wandsworth, where the rooms weren't quite as nice, but the food was slightly better.)
Whom you'll meet
My room decor included a light fixture in the shape of a bowler hat, and hunting prints and related paraphernalia – I'm sure I saw a riding crop in there, too. So you can infer their target market: well-to-do young and almost-young men who want to take their dates out for a good time without having to stint on the booze or designate a driver.
Eat in or eat out
This is British pub food as it is now, not as you know it by outdated reputation. So, in addition to the Cumberland sausage and streaky bacon, there's halloumi, a roasted squash and fennel salad, and even a vegetarian tatin with artichoke hearts.
Room with a view
Almost all the rooms have a village view out the front of the building, but you'd be best to get one on the third floor, to muffle traffic and pedestrian noise (though there was none when I visited). Stick to rooms 11, 12, 16 and 17, or, if your budget's a little higher, the Hound Suite with its bay window and padded bench.
The writer was a guest of the hotel.