I used to use http://www.serif.com/webplus/ and use easyspace for hosting. I started with the basic free version and later upgraded. Older versions can be bought really cheaply. It depends on whether you have the time or inclination to learn a new program to design a site from scratch. Some of the hosting sites deals are very tempting, ie,domain name, hosting and website templates at a good price for the first year then come renewal the price shoots up and you're stuck. If you have your own site you can host it where you want.
I made www.oaksales.co.uk some years ago for a friend using serif
Having learnt a lot from building Colour Republic's website with almost all of it hard coded by hand, I wanted something easier to maintain and update for a sister company i've set up. It had to be wordpress all the way. Sites not finished yet but the struture is all there. Took maybe a week to put together?, take another 2 weeks to finish it but there is a ton of pages to do - Broken Link Removed
Once that's done and out the way i'll look to move colour republics website over to wordpress but can't see me doing that until the end of the year
I made my site using Serif which came free with my web hosting with LCN. I find them both excellent. UK based so easy to get help on the phone should you need it.