‘There’s lots of room to play and run around’ at this ‘pretty, rambling manor house’ in ‘fantastic grounds’ on the edge of the Cotswolds.

‘There is much to like and laugh about’ at this utterly transformed Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house, in a ‘glorious setting’ in the Otter valley.

In a valley on the north Exmoor coast, Mark and Pat Cowell’s ‘friendly, unpretentious' hotel stands at the end of a long private drive ‘close to wonderful walks and fabulous scenery’.

A stroll from the town centre, Rick and Jill Stein’s restaurant-with-rooms – ‘a foodie destination’ – opened as a modest bistro in 1975.

Richard and Brian Prideaux-Brune, with Richard’s wife, Alison, run their Jacobean ancestral home as a characterful – some say eccentric – hotel where guests are ‘cosseted and cared for’ by ‘charming staff’.

A spirit of fun flits about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s cliff-top hotel, from the sub-tropical sculpture garden full of surprises (‘you feel like Alice walking into Wonderland’) to the ‘delightfully humorous artwork scattered throughout’.

A short stroll from the beach, this ‘top-of-the-class’, ‘exceptionally family-friendly’ hotel is ‘in a great cliff-top location’ overlooking the sea.

The Pear Tree at Purton closed down on January 2nd, 2018. It has had an entry in the Guide for many years. Anne Young, the owner, who has retired after more than 30 years helping customers, says: 'making happy memories for guests has been a pleasure.'

‘In an utterly peaceful valley, Richard Johnston’s quirky B&B is a cross between a 1930s rural escape and an eccentric aristocrat’s home, with a bit of adventure at every turn, and lots to keep you entertained.’

There’s no escaping the sweep of the sea at this ‘really super hotel’ above Falmouth Bay: a wraparound deck catches the sun; French doors in the restaurant open on to terraces; nearly all the bedrooms look across the water towards St Anthony’s lighthouse.

‘High standards are upheld’ at Ariane and Jamie Jones’s ‘lovely’ restaurant-with-rooms deep in Thomas Hardy country, say returning guests in 2017.

Just the ticket for ‘young children and their exhausted parents’, this Georgian manor house stands in ‘beautiful, romantic’ countryside. It has a ‘friendly, relaxed’ atmosphere that’s ‘really geared for kids’.

Close to heritage coast and sandy cove, this ‘delightful old mansion’, the Victorian pile that inspired Kenneth Grahame’s Toad Hall, is packed with ‘first-rate facilities’ for young and old.

‘We cannot fault The Henley – it is one of the best traditions of our lives,’ write regular visitors to Martyn Scarterfield and Petra Lampe’s Edwardian holiday cottage, from which a cliff path leads to the beach.

In springtime, wisteria festoons Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s 18th-century manor house, an ‘oasis of tranquillity’ set amid orchards and woodlands in the Taw valley.

Literary pilgrims follow narrow single-track lanes to this Victorian rectory in a ‘magical setting’ in the Valency valley, where Thomas Hardy met and courted his first wife, Emma Gifford.

‘Crumbly scones’ make this chic, river-facing hotel ‘probably the best tea place in town’, but there’s much more for its fans to enjoy: ‘A lovely setting, good food and well-appointed accommodation’.

Olga Polizzi’s countryside retreat, at its origin a Regency fishing lodge created for the Duchess of Bedford, is today an ‘unpretentious, wholly enjoyable’ hotel ‘decorated with charm and taste’.

The ‘wonderful sea views’ from this ‘fantastic’ hotel are but part of its charm: it is equally praised for its ‘pleasant, helpful staff’, ‘most delicious food’ and ‘great atmosphere’.

‘Our favourite pub-with-rooms, it truly lives up to its motto of “simple things done well”,’ say regular Guide correspondents in 2017 of the Inkin brothers’ ‘excellent’, family-friendly spot in rugged west Cornwall, minutes from the cliff edge.

‘Stylish and modern’, Robert Wilson and Tim Lloyd’s ‘welcoming’ hotel gleams on the banks of the River Stour, shipshape inside and out.

‘It’s a pleasure to stay here.’ In a ‘beautiful location with stunning views of Hay Tor and Dartmoor’, the Hassell family’s ‘delightful’ hotel has ‘a lot going for it’: ‘friendly, helpful and efficient staff’; ‘good-quality food’; the ‘quiet surroundings’.

Clean, contemporary design, eco credentials and ‘wonderful views’ attract guests to this voguish, adults-only hotel overlooking ‘a classic Cornish bay’.

An ‘enchanting, peaceful place’ surrounded by wild flower meadows, trees and wildlife, Hazel Billington and Ross Lewin’s ‘friendly’ hotel continues to charm Guide readers.