With their background in TV and film, Sara Curran and Peter Sussman are experts in presentation. Since taking over in April 2022, they have hung artworks collected on their travels, refreshed the beautiful interiors, and added a Michelin-recommended brasserie to their 'exceptional hotel'.

In gardens bordered by a stream, the Wild family's hotel, converted from three 17th-century cottages, a stroll from its own quayside, has well-equipped, country-classic bedrooms, formal and informal dining in restaurant and brasserie.

'It felt like we were in France, looking out from the restaurant balcony at rows of vines.' Our inspectors were transported by their stay on this estate, now a family-run concern with a vineyard planted in 2017

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.

Dog friendly, child-friendly, cosy and characterful, this historic village inn near the South Downs Way has bedrooms that blend quirky rusticity with modern comforts, a menu of pub classics and more modern dishes.

With the Goodwood Estate down the road and the South Downs on the doorstep, this rural, dog-friendly former coaching inn is popular with Barbour-wearing country-sports enthusiasts and hikers.

The actor Colin Firth is a fan of 'the hospitality, the food, the comfort of the rooms', not to mention the location at this sprawling, cliff-top Edwardian house.

Surrounded by Rylestone Gardens, with its tearooms and bandstand, this cottage orné-style Victorian residence is presented in traditional style, with period furnishings and a breakfast cooked by the enthusiastic host.

Like all Butcombe gastropubs with rooms, this whitewashed Georgian village local retains its personality while offering smart bedrooms and creative cooking along with pub classics.