On the Great Durnford Manor estate, where the great bustard has been reintroduced to Britain, this 19th-century boozer has been reinvented as a dining pub with locals bar, comfortable, contemporary rooms and a modern restaurant making exciting use of estate produce.

Chef-proprietors Guy and Brittany Manning have brought skills honed at triple-Michelin-starred Per Se in Midtown Manhattan to this thatched gastropub on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with 'stupendous' food in the bar/restaurant and garden, and stylish guest bedrooms across the road, with decking from which to watch the ducks on the River Avon.

Popular with shooting parties, this extensively and charmingly refurbished Georgian inn has an eclectic choice of individually designed bedrooms, a bar with cheerful clutter of furniture and interesting art, menus of good pub grub and more inventive dishes, plus a pizza kitchen and dining space in a former saddle room.

A loyal following of guests returns time and again to this 17th-century house, with stone-mullioned windows in 'a lovely quiet location, with nice gardens'.

Still very much a village local, with four simple, tasteful bedrooms, this atmospheric 19th-century beamed pub, serving staples and more exciting dishes, has been given a new lease of life by the Chickpea Group.

A drive down country lanes brings you to Ben Maschler's thatched 14th-century inn, with log fires, oak beams and flagstones, which offers seriously good gastropub dishes, four simple but chic bedrooms, and the Nadder valley on the doorstep.

Rescued after languishing empty for seven years, this 18th-century part-thatched former tannery turned village ale house has been renovated in a style of rustic simplicity, with dog-friendly, unfussy bedrooms, a dining room serving a short menu of pub classics and more complex dishes, and a pleasant, leafy garden.

'So much more than a pub with rooms', the Three Daggers has its own farm shop, brewery and spa barn with outdoor hot tub and sauna as well as a kiddies' playground.

The fun, hip, relaxed ethos of this pub with exceptional-value rooms on the edge of the Fonthill Estate is evident from the minute you walk in the door. Guide insiders couldn't believe the buzz when they arrived at this 'comfy, characterful place' in the afternoon, long after lunch.