First impressions count, and the woman who answered the phone at the Wild Duck couldn’t have been more helpful — describing the bedrooms, reading the dinner menu and telling me how easy it was to get a taxi from Kemble station.

So far so good. When the taxi dropped me at this inn in the Cotswolds, the car park was packed. “It’s always like this,” said the driver, “every night of the week. A real popular gaff it is.”

It soon became clear why. The inn is picture-postcard pretty for a start, built of mellow stone and with a huge clock on the front with panels that light up one after the other to show a wild duck in flight. There is no reception as such, just a small room with a log fire, an antique sofa and piles of decent magazines.

The nice person on the phone, it turned out, was Natalie, who runs the Wild Duck with her husband, Dino Mussell, and his mother. Natalie showed me to my room, which had been recently refurbished in cream and gold in a Chinese style, with a black lacquered four-poster and dressing tables, Buddha heads and a smart white bathroom tiled floor-to-ceiling in black slate. Even the lavatory seat was black.

Then it was down to dinner in the large dining room, lined with portraits, antiques and Beatles memorabilia (Dino is a fan). Kings and queens have popped in to the Wild Duck over the years on their way to London and it’s still popular with royals, including Prince William and Prince Harry, who drops by occasionally for scampi and chips. A large portrait of the Prince of Wales, which overlooked Harry’s regular table, was moved after the young Prince complained that he didn ’t like his father peering down at him while he was eating. “He seemed a bit sheepish about asking,” says Dino.

Anyway, I didn’t care who was watching as I tucked into a vegetarian tapas plate (£7.95) with a basket of bread. My sister had the Ardennes pâté with tarragon pickles (£6.95). Both were excellent. Then we had fillet steaks from the specials menu (£15.95), which were cooked to perfection. Our sauvignon blanc (£15.95) was properly chilled and the service attentive, the only jarring note being that the waitresses were distressingly blonde and slim and made us feel like two Miss Piggys in the corner.

And so to bed. The four- poster, which was fitted with crisp linen and a fake-fur throw, proved so large and comfortable that I overslept — but Natalie kindly arranged a late continental breakfast on a tray in my room.

No wonder it’s such a popular gaff.

Bottom line: Mary Gold paid £150 for a B&B Chinese suite. Sampling the fare: Dinner is about £30 a head for three courses.

What we think: Great food in a lovely setting.

Best thing: The food, and Harry, the resident, adorable Jack Russell.

Worst thing: The bedroom doors are a bit flimsy.

Need to know: The Wild Duck Inn (01285 770310, www.thewildduckinn.co.uk), Drakes Island, Ewen, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6BY.

Access all areas: Sorry, no.

Room: 8 out of 10.

Food: 8 out of 10.

Service: 9 out of 10.

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