I stayed in a Wetherspoon hotel in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it has a million dollar view of the cathedral for £60 a night

A huge bedroom and a heavenly view of one of Britain’s most beautiful cathedrals.

With these advantages, many people would be happy to spend some money on a city trip in a hotel.

But in Canterbury – considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world – you can enjoy it on a budget. Just check into The Thomas Ingoldsby Wetherspoon Hotel, one of 50 the pub chain runs across the UK.

With prices starting from just £60 per night and pints for just £2.11 (£1.49 on Mondays), The Thomas Ingoldsby is, first and foremost, cheap.

But when I checked in, I discovered it wasn’t just the price that was tempting. It was just seconds from Canterbury Cathedral – and it was framed spectacularly by my bedroom window. What a sight to wake up to!

Sophie Foster checks into the Thomas Ingoldsby Wetherspoon hotel in Canterbury (above), one of 50 hotels run by the pub chain across the UK

Sophie notes that The Thomas Ingoldsby has two bars, one downstairs and one upstairs. She enjoys a £4.99 breakfast at the latter (above)

Sophie says the hotel is ‘just seconds away from Canterbury Cathedral’, which can be seen from her bedroom window here.

Check-in itself went smoothly. After taking in the charming exterior of the pub/hotel, named after the pseudonym of author Richard Harris Barham, who wrote The Ingoldsby Legends, I walked into the large, rather busy bar downstairs and signed in as a guest at the desk.

I gave my key cards and went up to the second floor, to a second, smaller bar and restaurant. The hotel lost points here because the elevator was broken. A friendly local showed me how to hold down the buttons to make it vibrate.

But the upstairs dining room itself was spotless, with gleaming brass fixtures and a view from the window of the historic, half-timbered Moat Tea Rooms.

My home for the night—room number 10—was upstairs again and through two locked doors. It was large enough to be considered a suite, with enough room to swing a tiger, let alone a cat.

It had a large and comfortable king size bed with lots of pillows, as well as an armchair, dressing table, plenty of storage space and an en suite bathroom with a shower over the bath. Plus, a typical garish pub pattern carpet.

However, look up instead of down and you’ll find that the aforementioned view from the window makes the room something to write home about. The towering spires of the cathedral, seen through the window frame, looked like a perfectly placed work of art.

Sophie’s room (above) ‘had a large and comfortable king size bed with plenty of pillows, as well as an armchair and dressing table’

Here you can see the room’s en-suite bathroom, which is equipped with a shower over the bath

Sophie enjoyed a ‘cheap pint’ at ‘Spoons’ before going to bed. Here you can see the seating arrangements in the pub

The room was clean, well appointed and importantly I couldn’t hear any noise from the hustle and bustle below. The pub is open from 7am to 1am and I was worried my night would be plagued by the noise of rowdy pub goers but it was blissfully quiet.

Another minor downside was the evening security at the door. If you, like me, forget to bring your ID (29 years old), you can be interrogated when you try to get back in – and you are closely watched to make sure you go straight to bed instead of to the bar.

The next morning I decided to have breakfast in the upstairs dining room, where the sun streamed in through the many windows. Breakfast is not included in the room rate (unlimited tea and coffee is) and a full English breakfast costs an additional £4.99.

Sophie says: ‘I visited the cathedral (above), a 30 second walk away, for free by attending the 5pm evening service where visiting choirs raise their voices to the heavens’

Sophie ‘took a punt tour of the city’, seeing ‘beautiful gardens and ancient architecture’ from the River Stour (pictured)

Surrounding Canterbury was a treat, which highlights the fact that the location of the hotel is top notch. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a picturesque, history-filled city break.

I visited the cathedral, a 30-second walk away, for free by attending the 5pm evensong, where visiting choirs lift their voices to heaven every night except Thursday. Normally it costs £17 for adults to enter the church.

I took a tour of the city by punt – a riverboat propelled by a guide with a long pole – with the Canterbury Punting Company. On the River Stour I saw beautiful gardens and ancient architecture.

Meanwhile, the Roman Museum has recreated a Roman street and lets you make your own mosaics. And the Beany House of Art combines modern and older artworks with a bizarre collection of everything from a lion’s head to antique jewelry.

I finished my day of sightseeing with a drink at Houdini’s Magic bar, where a live magician performs tricks at your table. And of course I enjoyed a cheap beer at ‘Spoons (after getting my ID) before heading upstairs to sleep for the nighttime version of that incredible view, with the cathedral spires magically lit up.