A New Forest bolt-hole, this country house hotel has an easy glamour, romantic and family-friendly rooms, heart-warming Italian food and top-notch spa.

You can dine in style in the Grand Ballroom or hunker down in the cosy old Pilchard inn at this extraordinary Art Deco hotel on a tidal island just a sea tractor ride from the 21st century.

Eccentric, fun and colourful, this Pimlico town house in a leafy residential street is as much neighbourhood hangout and art gallery as a place to sleep and eat.

You can paddleboard on the river, stroll to see the deer in Richmond Park, and feel a world away from central London at this smart, multifaceted Thames-side hotel.

In 'the most idyllic location', cascading down the cliffs at St Mawes with views to St Anthony's lighthouse, Olga Polizzi's seaside hotel continues to delight readers. Once home to a yacht club, it is spread across a cluster of houses.

Gorgeous interiors and a friendly, informal ambience are a winning combination at Susan Stuart's beautiful B&B, where every bedroom has a sea view, and breakfast is quite special.

Highly idiosyncratic and seriously fun, this hotel features bedrooms themed on the Georgian Grand Tour and Victorian global gallivanting.

This little piggy, the babe in the litter of Robin Hutson's Pig hotels, is set in a crenellated Georgian house and former pub built into the city's medieval wall.

There is 'an air of a chic curiosity shop' about this singular hotel with café/deli, centred on a Palladian-style villa, up a narrow lane, where resident cats sun themselves on the front lawn. As the Guide went to press, Stratton's announced it was being sold.