Langar Hall by Fiona Duncan

There was a moment of Fawltyesque chaos on my arrival. With the reception desk unmanned and the phone trilling through the house, a suden influx of guests caused a pile-up in the lobby, with French waiters running helter-skelter, juggling suitcases, cocktails and plates of food. Suddenly a small, bespectacled woman - Imogen Skirving - appeared, gave a few deft commands and the storm instantly subsided.

Langar Hall is Imogen Skirving. The stuccoed, caramel-coloured Georgian house reached by an avenue of limes has been in her family since 1860.

When Imogen inherited, she began to take in paying guests to make ends meet. It was a success.

She added ensuite bathrooms, then thought she might employ a chef... and gradually transformed her home into a popular, instantly likeable hotel, or - more accurately - restaurant-with-rooms.

The charmingly decorated house still feels like a home, not least because of the amount of guests in the dining room that greet their hostess like a long-lost friend. "She has an eight-foot personality in a five-foot frame," said the man at the next table.

Trotting round the pillared room (white tablecloths in the evening, Indian ones by day), she has a word for everyone, and her key staff echo her warmth, if not her winning eccentricity.

Children are welcome, with a big basket of toys in one of the attractive sitting rooms (there's also a bar and a garden room serving light meals all day) and a play area outside.

Langar's style can best be described as "quirky romantic" with a strong dash of India. She has an eye for design and loves fabric and wallpaper.

"I must show you my latest find," she said, and returned to my table trailing a long roll of exquisite Louise Body hand-printed paper. All the bedrooms (with free wireless internet) are different and full of personality; mine had long been a riot of pink in honour of Barbara Cartland, who used to stay, but was now strikingly redecorated, though the divine bathroom, with its Moghul arches screening the bath, and bird of paradise walls, remains unchanged.

The heart of the hotel is the restaurant. Its reputation for unpretentious good food is justified, as far as I could judge. On a Sunday night I restricted myself to a deliciously crunchy goat's cheese and red onion marmalade filo tart, and a plate of local cheeses. The lamb is from Langar, the game from Belvoir Castle estate, the Stilton from the surrounding villages.

Langar Hall stands in the Vale of Belvoir, right next to Langar village church, overlooking a series of medieval carp ponds. The hotel is popular at weekends, and the restaurant gets very busy, often with a wedding or birthday party in progress. It's best to come here for a night or two midweek, perhaps en route north or south.

Langar Hall is a great choice for lone travellers, who are made to feel particularly welcome. Come here while it's still in its prime: a wonderful place, a real one-off - exactly like its owner.

Copyright 2007 The Hotel Guru