In ‘lovely Cotswold stone buildings around a pretty courtyard’, this mostly 16th-century former coaching inn has had a stylish make-over.

‘We stumbled across the hotel quite by accident – oh, serendipity! We plan to return.’ Newcomers this year to the Hine family’s ‘gracious’ pink brick Queen Anne coaching inn join a loyal following,

‘In a pretty south Cotswolds village', this is a ‘fun, relaxing place’. A Palladian mansion with Arts and Crafts refinements and an Italianate logia, it was recently made over for the Calcot Collection.

‘A lovely, family-friendly hotel,’ was Guide inspectors' verdict on this 16th-century stone manor house with spa in beautiful grounds, ‘looking out over rolling hills’.

Readers ‘had a really lovely, relaxing stay’ at Lila Arora’s apricot-washed Georgian mansion, approached by an avenue of lime trees amid sheep-grazed pastures.

Surrounded by manicured lawns, wild meadow flowers and woodland, this Cotswold-stone manor house, a few miles outside Tetbury, has ‘exceptional staff, excellent service, delightful furnishings’.

‘Very enjoyable; a place for relaxing weekends and special occasions,’ say Guide inspectors of the ‘beautifully proportioned Queen Anne mansion in spacious grounds’.

‘We were welcomed with a complimentary Pimm’s,’ write Guide insiders, who dined at James Moffett’s historic stone manor house in the Peak District national park.

Overlooking National Trust parkland, this Georgian country house has ‘a real sense of grandeur’, say inspectors in 2018.

Returning guests in 2018 ‘enjoyed a relaxing time in warmth and comfort’ at Tim Hart’s purpose-built hotel, on the former ramparts of Nottingham’s medieval castle.

A 17th-century mellow stone building overlooking the ‘broad way’ with its cafés, antique shops and milling tourists, is run as a well-regarded restaurant-with-rooms by Andrew and Gaynor Riley.

‘We were made so welcome and were well looked after,’ writes a reader, of a stay at this pub-with-rooms at the meeting point of two old drovers’ roads.

‘Twin sentinel clipped yews’ stand at the entrance of this 15th-century half-timbered stone hotel, part of the Cotswolds Inns and Hotels group.

A charming stopover not far from the M1, Charles and Charlotte Meynell’s B&B in a listed Georgian manor house has bags of country house style and a splendid walled garden.

A smart trot up the bridleway stands artist Jane Haigh’s rural B&B.

Facing the market square, a stone-built 15th-century property that has variously hosted a monks’ chanting-house, a post office, and a coaching inn, has been overhauled by Sebastian and Lana Snow (see also The Plough at Kelmscott).

Vibrantly colourful inside, Rob and Roberta Aitken’s handsome Victorian B&B occupies a historic mill village near Darley Abbey.

In a ‘stunning setting’ that inspired CS Lewis, this 18th-century dower house stands high in the Malvern hills.

With ‘superb views’ of spectacular limestone cliffs, Chris and Zoe Hipwell’s Georgian town house hotel is ‘a very special spot’ near the River Derwent.

On a 150-acre working farm, clucking hens are the only neighbours at this Joan and Martin Slack’s 'charming, welcoming’ B&B in the Derbyshire Dales.

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

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

A series of disused outbuildings on the Marriott family’s small arable farm has been converted into homely B&B rooms.

The Slater siblings have country comfort down to a fine art at their stylish 18th-century coaching inn – a local hotspot for real ales, signature cocktails and zesty pub classics.