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IF you are wanting a beautiful hotel stay with some fantastic classic British food, we’ve found just the place.

Here’s everything you need to know about staying at the Pheasant Inn.

Where is the Pheasant Inn?

The hotel is a minute’s drive from the M4 in the Berkshire Downs Area of Outstanding National Beauty.

What is the hotel like?

This 450-year-old Young’s inn was the perfect R&R for my wife and I on our way home after rainy camping in Wales.

What are the rooms like?

As we entered our room, birdsong through the window competed check with Classic it out FM humming from a Roberts radio.

Egyptian cotton linen with a Hypnos mattress, carefully curated books and minibar snacks including gourmet crisps, nuts, olives and Smarties, along with Bramley bath products, completed the welcome.

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Double rooms from £98 on a room-only basis. See thepheasant-inn.co.uk.

What is there to eat and drink?

Head chef Santosh and his team “bring their own secrets” to the Pheasant restaurant’s “best of British” menu – and they work magic.

I dined on crayfish with Bloody Mary sauce and caper berries, rump steak then chocolate cheesecake with vanilla ice-cream, cherry hazelnut and honeycomb.

My wife enjoyed salmon pate with pickled veg, herbcrusted lamb cutlet with carrot puree, broad-bean mousse, king oyster mushroom and jus, then sticky toffee pudding.

It was a miracle we could face the banging Full English brekkie the next day.

What else is there to do there?

You may spot a jockey or three at the bar, as Lambourn is famed for its racehorse training and nearby Newbury Racecourse.

Great trekking and cycling abound, or browse antique shops at Hungerford, ride a narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon Canal and venture into Marlborough.

Is it family friendly?

Families can pay an extra £15 a night for beds that sleep ages 2-14, while those under two stay for free.

They also have ‘Borrow Boxes’ in the room with activities for kids to use while there.

Is the hotel accessible?

There is wheelchair access to the restaurant and some of the rooms are on the ground floor.

BRITS might not know about this short-lived McDonald’s venture that launched in 2023 as it lasted just two years.

Called CosMc’s, the spin-off was a retro space brand by McDonald’s that focussed on ‘otherworldly beverage creations’.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

In 2023, the very first CosMc’s venue opened selling a few food items and lots of speciality drinks that weren’t available in its original McDonald’s restaurants.

It was space-themed and based on an early alien character who visited McDonaldland in a series of adverts in the late 1980s and early 90s.

The first venue to open was a drive-thru in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

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In its first month, the store reportedly had twice the traffic of a regular McDonald’s.

The opening day saw a large queue of customers – with some even being turned away, and police were monitoring the car park.

CosMc’s then opened in four other locations in Texas – Fort Worth, San Antonio and Allen.

The reason it was so popular during its opening was its unique menu.

Apart from a few items from the ‘McDonald’s Universe’ like an Egg McMuffin and McFlurry, all were only available at these restaurants.

Other available food items were the likes of a ‘Creamy Avocado Tomatillo Sandwich’ or a ‘Spicy Queso Sandwich’.

There were also ‘Pretzel Bites’ and ‘McPops’ which are essentially filled donuts – and you could get three for $3.79 (£2.78).

According to McDonald’s, hundreds of thousands of McPops were sold throughout the few years CosMc’s was open.

The spin-off was initially founded to crack the coffee market and mirror the success of other brands like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.

CosMc’s sold speciality coffees like the ‘Churro Frappe’ and ‘S’mores Cold Brew’ as well as slushies and soft drinks.

The Signature Galactic Boost range were drinks like the ‘Sour Cherry Energy Burst’ and the ‘Blueberry Ginger Boost’.

Across the two years that it was operational, CosMc’s opened at nine locations, all within the US.

Each was aimed at those wanting a quick snack, which is why each was a drive-thru and had no seating areas inside.

Last year it was reported that McDonald’s would be shutting down its CosMc’s chain, with none remaining open as of June 2025.