A long winding drive leads past a lake to this Victorian mansion, remodelled in the 1940s in the style of a Loire château, with parkland, fountain and 17th-century dovecote.

Pink without and peachy within, this Queen Anne-style mansion, in a rural hamlet with views to the Malvern hills, has been owned by the Hine family since 1978.

Satisfied diners have been coming for years to this restaurant-with-rooms in the heart of the pretty market town.

A linden avenue leads to this apricot-washed Georgian mansion in parkland, beside St Andrew’s 
church in a Vale of Belvoir village, with a river running through.

On the doorstep of the Westonbirt Arboretum with 2,500 species of trees, and just round the corner from Highgrove, the Hare and Hounds sits in its own gardens and woodlands in a pretty corner of the Cotswolds.

With a ‘spectacular location’ in a small village high in the White Peak landscape, James Moffett’s Grade II* listed manor house with its stone floors, oak beams and mullioned windows also offers ‘excellent value for money’.

‘The best place to stay in Nottingham,’ is a Guide stalwart’s conclusion on Tim and Stefa Hart’s city hotel, in an award-winning noughties building on the castle ramparts.

Tables are set for some seriously good dining at Andrew and Gaynor Riley’s restaurant-with-rooms, occupying the former showroom of Sir Gordon Russell, wartime pioneer of utility furniture, in a picture-postcard Cotswold village.

At the meetings of two ancient drovers’ roads, close to the Welsh border, Steve and Nicola Reynolds’s rural village dining-pub-with-rooms has been a foodie destination for more than 20 years.

Just a couple of miles from the A1, down a tree-lined road, is a great combination of gastropub and luxury B&B.

With a free jukebox, Art Deco piano, loyalty cards and children’s menus, this dog-friendly 18th-century inn is truly a community hub.

Immortalised as ‘The Donnithorne Arms’ in George Eliot’s Adam Bede, this Victorian pub was boarded up before Johnny and Laura Greenall stepped in to save it.

A traditional pub in a Peak District village, the former Old Pump now struts its stuff as the Peacock dining pub-with-rooms and onsite brewery.

Zoe and Chris Hipwell’s personable small hotel has ‘superb’ views, across the rooftops of the historic spa village, towards limestone cliffs and the River Derwent.

A cheerful welcome awaits horses, hikers and hounds at Izzy Barnard’s flower-filled Georgian house in prime Shropshire hacking and walking country.

Adjoining their small arable farm, the Marriott family has converted a series of outbuildings into homely B&B rooms.

Period features, paintings and objets d‘art fill the de Savary family’s elegant B&B, in a Georgian town house in the fashionable Montpellier district.

Like ducks to water, locals flock to this stylish 18th-century coaching inn, drawn to its modern country comforts and ‘extremely good’ food.

In a historic wool town, the classic Cotswold-stone exterior of this ‘likeable’ 17th-century inn gives way to a cool, contemporary decor that mixes wooden beams and ancient floorboards with Scandi-chic furnishings, a fine cocktail list and a family-friendly feel.

Embracing its rural roots, this traditional inn cosies up deep in the Cotswold countryside.

Between town and racecourse, Nirav and Dhruti Sheth’s conveniently situated hotel is in a fine stone mansion in leafy Pittville.

Ripe for discovery, this Grade II* listed building with 18th-century origins has evolved into a contemporary B&B that pays homage to the town’s most revered son, Charles Darwin.

In one of the prettiest villages in the Cotswolds, this Palladian house overlooking the Slad valley in Laurie Lee country is a soothing escape for rattled city-dwellers.

‘We had a wonderful family holiday here.

The late Rosemary Verey, doyenne of the 20th-century English country garden, created the flourishing grounds at this 17th-century Cotswold stone mansion, her home from the late 1950s.

‘The staff were friendly and helpful, the setting on the village green was delightful – what a wonderful place to stay,’ says a trusted reviewer of this Cotswolds inn-with-rooms.

Judy Gardner’s restaurant-with-rooms and purpose-built cookery school sit amid a working farm in the Avon valley.

A striking landmark in the centre of the market town, this refreshed hotel occupies two black-and-white-timbered Tudor buildings with many original features: exposed ancient beams, leaded windows, a centuries-old staircase.

Easy-going cool seeps through this Georgian town house in a leafy corner of Pittville, close to Cheltenham Racecourse.

Christine and Rupert Farmer offer guests a slice of the good life at their B&B on a small organic farm – and greet them with a piece of home-baked cake. Close to the Shropshire Way, the 18th-century farmhouse has cottage-style bedrooms full of spoiling touches: fresh flowers, magazines, and a regularly topped-up hospitality tray. In each, views of the pretty garden or towards the Wrekin.

Busy hens are the only neighbours at Joan and Martin Slack’s ‘charming, welcoming’ B&B, on a 150-acre working farm in the Derbyshire Dales.

The hub of a pretty Cotswolds village, this mellow-stone pub-with-rooms (Calcot Collection) is liked for its stylish accommodation and relaxed nature.

In the late 17th century, the Honourable Order of Little Bedlam (an aristocratic drinking club) rampaged through this coaching inn – today an altogether more upstanding crowd come for the modern pub grub, cinema nights and the garden’s ‘pizza potting shed’ (open on warm-weather weekends). Characterful bedrooms mix vintage furnishings and modern conveniences. Some have exposed stones or feature wallpaper, perhaps an original fireplace, mullioned window.

Hanging baskets of colourful blooms, along with wonderfully wonky timbers, front Janet and Stuart Baldry’s Grade II listed 15th-century house next to the entrance to Warwick Castle.

Diane Chadwick is the ‘wonderfully energetic, helpful’ hostess at this ‘splendid’ town-centre B&B within walking distance of the Shropshire hills.

‘Clearly very popular’, Mel and Martin Board’s whitewashed 17th-century village inn draws ramblers, cyclists, locals and their dogs.

There’s a warm, unassuming country feel at Charles and Charlotte Meynell’s listed Georgian manor house, in the centre of a village in the National Forest.

Facing the market square in a Cotswolds town known for its fine ‘wool church’, this stone-built 15th-century building has variously hosted a monks’ chanting-house, a post office and a coaching inn.

Charm and character – perhaps even a queenly ghost – have been passed down through the centuries at this handsome Grade I listed building in a market town on the River Nene.

‘B&Bs this good are rare,’ write hoteliers who stayed at Jane and William Pusey’s 16th-century manor house.