Stone House

'A wonderfully relaxing place', this Tudor manor house, with Georgian additions, has been owned by the Dunn family for five centuries. Peter and Jane Dunn welcome guests warmly; their staff are 'excellent and discreet', says a visitor this year. 'Within minutes, the stresses of the outside world are eased; lovely rooms, comfortable beds, exceptional meals.' The public rooms 'are a delight': a grand double staircase rises from the black-and-white marble floor of the entrance hall. The Georgian part of the house has the larger bedrooms, two with a four-poster. In the Tudor wing, rooms are smaller but 'attractive and quite adequate'; they have beams, sloping ceilings, antiques. The Dunns tell us that the water pressure has been improved after a comment last year about the showers in this part of the building. Jane Dunn has a Michelin Bib Gourmand for her French- and Thai-influenced cooking on a daily-changing menu (Rye scallops with chilli, grapefruit, crystallised ginger; saddle of wild rabbit, thyme and three-mustard cream sauce). The traditional breakfast has a 'superb buffet'; continental can be taken in the bedrooms. The huge grounds have a walled garden with an ornamental lake, gazebos, a 100-foot herbaceous border. A picnic can be provided for Glyndebourne, 20 minutes' drive away. (Caroline Evans, PE Carter, and others)