Old meets new in this revived 16th-century coaching inn, now a busy, cheerful pub in a historic Wealden village.

Do you remember an inn, Miranda? Hilaire Belloc certainly remembered this Georgian coaching inn, from which he described setting out in The Four Men.

Swathed with creepers and bedecked with flowers, this wildly atmospheric B&B stands on a cobbled street in a medieval citadel with views over Romney Marsh.

This good-value B&B in a Victorian farmhouse on the Sissinghurst estate makes the perfect base for a visit to the iconic English gardens laid out in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. The largest bedroom looks out to ancient woodland and to the castle's iconic Elizabethan tower.

East Coast America meets South Coast England at this single-storey, seaside-chic hotel with appealing room choices, fantastic locally sourced food, a spa cabin, beach yoga workshops, and a vast expanse of sands, washed by the English Channel, just over the spectacular dunes.

Lionel Copley applied his designer's eye and gentle wit to the styling of interiors at this chic and grown-up Georgian rectory B&B (no under 10s), with beautiful bedrooms, elegant public spaces showcasing the work of local artists, treatment rooms, onsite café, walled garden, and exceptionally imaginative, locally sourced breakfasts.

In the quaint and characterful Old Town, this handsome Georgian guest house has a modern, seaside feel, period features, lots of thoughtful extras, and kind hosts who juice fruit and whip up smoothies for breakfast served in the conservatory.

Crammed with ceramics, clocks, chinoiserie, religious art, fire screens and antimacassars, this 19th-century villa B&B is a homage to the Victorian Aesthetic movement. Breakfast includes eggs from the hens, honey from the hives and fruit from the walled garden.

In beautiful, mature, landscaped gardens with views to the South Downs, a few minutes' drive from the coast, this Georgian rectory B&B is a tranquil retreat, with traditional bedrooms that look onto the gardens, two with an antique four-poster.

Just five minutes and a world away from Ashford International, Brad and Kristie Lomas's 17th-century manor house in an oasis garden is a fine country-house hotel and foodie destination.