Eat inside or dine alfresco under a striped parasol, at this exceptional gastropub with super-stylish rooms, some for a family, some dog friendly with access to the garden.

For 40 years, Raymond Blanc has held two Michelin stars at this beautiful country-house hotel 'and it's not surprising – every mouthful of every meal is a triumph', say Guide insiders.

You can paddleboard on the river, stroll to see the deer in Richmond Park, and feel a world away from central London at this smart, multifaceted Thames-side hotel.

At the heart of the South Downs National Park, this village pub with rooms is the rural sister of the seaside Crab & Lobster, Sidlesham (see entry). It is country but no bumpkin.

'A really nice place to stay, in a lovely quiet village setting,' this beautifully renovated 17th-century thatched inn lives anew as a local pub with rooms. Manager Claire Lenkowiec and chef Valerio Grimaldi-Plant run the show for the owners and, by George, they get it right!

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.

History meets the modern world at this Elizabethan manor house, a luxury e hotel in eight acre-grounds, with gracious drawing room, state-of-the-art spa and fine-dining restaurant.

On a remote corner of the Isle of Sheppey, this former inn on the Swale Estuary is a birdwatchers' paradise, with smart bedrooms and a waterside restaurant serving highly inventive dishes of locally farmed and foraged ingredients, with produce from the dynamic kitchen garden.

Close to Canterbury, this village gastropub has four stylish bedrooms, informal dining inside and out, and imaginative menus of locally sourced produce.

This former coaching inn is now an equestrian-themed gastropub and restaurant, with affordable boutique bedrooms spread across four annexe buildings.

Just a couple of minutes' drive from Petworth, with views over farmland to the South Downs, this gastropub has smart contemporary bedrooms and some exciting menu choices.

Amid a wide sweep of Berkshire countryside, this thatched inn is now a gastropub with an interesting mix of bedrooms and innovative cooking.

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.

Saved from closure by film producer Tim Bevan and his artist wife, Amy Gadney, this honeyed-stone 17th-century village pub reopened in the summer of 2020, beautifully refurbished, with cosy bar, beautiful rustic-chic bedrooms, very superior pub grub and a full calendar of events.

'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

Charles II might not recognise his old royal hunting lodge today but, as the father of at least 11 children and a great lover of his spaniels, the Merry Monarch would enjoy the dog-friendly, inclusive ethos.

In 2013, Carole Bamford acquired the wisteria-draped, Cotswold stone, 18th-century Tollgate Inn and took it back to the bones, before complete refurbishment,

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.