The Pear Tree Inn guesthouse in Troston, near Bury St Edmunds, wins rave reviews after £1 million works
A £1 million guesthouse from the best friends who own a highly-popular Suffolk pub has seen rave reviews since opening.
The Pear Tree Inn, just 35 yards from The Bull Freehouse in Troston owned by Ben Davenport and Sam Darling, has seven individually designed rooms – The Forelle, The Comice, The Bartlett as well as the Seckel, the Williams, the D’anjou and the Concorde suite.
Work began on the former 17th century Whitegates Farm cottage a couple of months after the pair purchased the village property in December last year – opening for guests at the end of July.
Sam said: “There was nowhere for bedrooms above The Bull, so after seeing friends do a similar thing with their pub about 14 years ago, we wanted to do that as well.
“We have a fantastic pub here with a brilliant following and we really wanted to build on that and ensure the pub’s future in a tricky economy.”
Since guests have visited, Sam said the feedback on the rooms has been amazing.
He added: “This year has just been incredibly hard work and a lot of love has gone into those rooms, so it is really humbling and lovely to have the five star reviews we have been getting.
“There is a huge amount of emotion that goes into a project like this as well as time and money, so it is brilliant people notice all the little details and love the rooms as much as we do.”
A majority of the rooms are wheelchair accessible and every one has top of the range gadgets and even homemade blackberry jammy biscuits made by The Bull’s pastry chef Rosie awaiting guest’s arrivals.
Sam said: “We have tried to complement the building and show off the rooms in the best ways that they can be, from having rooms with a more modern feel as well as those in the old part, built in 1760, with their gnarly wooden beams, polished brick floors and wood burners.
“In today’s economy, pubs can not do the same thing, day in and day out, so we feel with the guesthouse and the feedback it continues to get, it will help ensure the pub’s viability for those that enjoy it and love being here.”
