The Homeliest Bed & Breakfasts in Liverpool, UK

If you don’t mind a 19km (12mi) drive into Liverpool city centre, Birches Brow makes a charming rural base. Local businesspeople Yvonne and Sue have transformed a period farmhouse into a boutique B&B with nine elegant rooms, each with its own charms, from a big balcony (Elm) to a freestanding bath with custom-made champagne flute holder (Oak). You get free cookies in the room on arrival and breakfast is a treat, with a selection of goodies delivered to your door in a pretty wicker basket.

The all-suites accommodation at this modern docklands address offers an alternative to the more traditional style of B&B, but shares many of the same qualities. There’s no full-scale restaurant, so breakfast is the only meal served, and the apartments have a cosy, residential feel. Each comes with its own kitchen area if you feel like cooking, but with Albert Dock and the Baltic Triangle close at hand, you might prefer to eat out every night.

North of the city centre, in the residential suburb of Waterloo, this 17-bedroom Victorian villa began as a simple B&B before revamping itself. Now, in addition to spruced-up rooms, it also offers a licensed bar. Don’t leave without visiting nearby Crosby Beach, a long, dune-backed stretch of sand that’s home to Antony Gormley’s Another Place installation, made up of 100 cast-iron figures staring out to sea.

If you have any questions about Liverpool, John, co-host of this Princes Park B&B, will probably be able to answer them – he’s full of helpful advice on local sights and places to eat. The five bedrooms blend vintage and modern features, and while they don’t have TVs they do come with robes, slippers and bathroom toiletries. Breakfast in the flamingo-coloured dining room throws in a few nice surprises: you might find smoked salmon, duck eggs and locally baked sourdough as well as the usual suspects.