Temple Sowerby House

'The rooms are comfortable, the cuisine is excellent, the welcome warm.' In a conservation village in the Eden valley this hotel/restaurant faces Cross Fell, the highest peak in the Pennines. Grade II listed, the part 17th-century brick-fronted house has thick walls and a Georgian wing. Its 'kind, enthusiastic' owners, Paul and Julie Evans, and their staff 'create a relaxed atmosphere', say visitors this year. In the conservatory-style dining room, which faces a walled garden and terrace (where summer drinks are served), chef Ashley Whittaker's 'imaginative' menus, with plenty of choice, feature British/French dishes, perhaps cumin-spiced scallops with cauliflower mousse; juniper-marinated haunch of venison, squash and orange purée. The wine list is 'interestingly chosen and sensibly priced'. The bedrooms, in the house or a coach house, range from 'superior' (with views) to 'classic' (smaller, many with old beams). Several of the bathrooms have aqua-spa bath and hydrotherapy shower. 'Breakfast the best we have had for choice and quality': it includes 'delicious bread and rolls', 'unwrapped butter'. Ullswater is 15 minutes' drive away. (Tony Bryant-Fenn, Simon and Mithra Tonking, Anne Thornthwaite)