For the last five months, the former office block (then backpacker hostel) on the edge of St Nick's Market in Bristol, has looked like this. The big gates locked shut, a hive of building activity going on behind them.

I've passed by many times each week, peering in and trying to get some idea of what sort of place this was going to be. I crossed my fingers that, at last, we would have a really great, stylish 'boutique guesthouse' that we could recommend to visiting friends. There is a massive whole in the market for this sort of thing in Bristol - nothing seemingly between Holiday Inn Express sort of places and the Hotel Du Vin end of the market. Until now.

Brooks Guesthouse opened last week and it's AWESOME. Exactly what we needed and it couldn't be in a better location. Next door to Source Foodmarket (@sourcefoodcafe), opposite Trethowan's Dairy cheesemongers (@trethowansdairy) and the rest of the St Nick's food stalls.

I passed by this morning, stuck my head in the door to say hi and ended up having a good nose round!

Excuse the crappy photos, but I was so happy that I got to have a tour and a chat with the owner, I wanted you lot to see it too...

The whole of one wall of the lounge area opens up onto the courtyard. The owner, Andrew, has a background in property development (along with an existing guesthouse in Bath), and said he's wanted to put in folding doors like this somewhere for years, At last, he's had the chance to, and they look fab.

The lounge area looks out to the courtyard

The kitchen / breakfast room. The counter is laid out with juice, muesli etc each morning, and cooked breakfasts are served to your table from the open kitchen...

LOVE the chairs...

...and the tables (one of which is currently Andrew's kitchen table from his house!)

Still loving the chairs...

Don't you just want to book and come and stay with your friends right now?

The breakfast room is seriously light and bright. Sunglasses may be needed for hungover breakfasts...

This is the lift...

...Or you can take the stairs...

The rooms are not enormous but they're lovely, the showers are powerful and there's so much right outside the doors, you're not going to be spending much time inside the room, I'm guessing...

So, who's coming to stay? Grab a space at The Montpelier Basement, book the hotel and come!!