With its bright yellow front door and rhubarb-pink sitting room, this Georgian townhouse with cottages, restaurant in the adjacent ironmonger's and a courtyard garden masterminded by garden designer Penelope Hobhouse is both classic and chic.

The ancient stone-built Bath Arms in woodlands on the Longleat estate gets a big thumbs up from readers for its 'excellent, attentive and pleasant staff', 'appealing menus', real ales and great-value, well-decorated rooms.

With 'nothing in between to Canada', this pretty blue-and-white weatherboarded farmhouse, which sits above a secluded cove on Bryher's rugged west-facing coast, is England's most westerly hotel.

Made over in the Signet Collection's signature style, this country-house hotel in a picturesque South Downs village has a relaxed ambience, chic, affordable bedrooms, a boutique spa, and imaginative brasserie fare with good plant-based options.

You don't have to blow a fortune to stay at this relaxed yet refined hotel in some converted barns, the former home of Langham Glass, and featuring many charming nods to its heritage.

Modern mixes with medieval on the ramparts of what remains of Nottingham Castle, with this sleek hotel the perfect place to escape the bustling city.

There's a huge sense of fun at this stylish hotel, whose logo is Vanity Fair's caricature of the 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Oscar Wilde's Nemesis. Laurence and Helen Beere's hotel, a quirky combination of four townhouses has pugilism-themed jokes throughout; the decor is knockout too.

In a hamlet just 25 minutes from Bath, 'the Carps' is a 'very nice country pub' offering 'very good' food, and oodles of atmosphere in the stone-walled, beamed bar, with fire and log-burner.

On a square beside the Great Ouse in the ancient port town, this fine Georgian Grade II* listed former merchant’s house, once home to what would become Barclays, was debanked in 1869 and is today a buzzy hotel and brasserie.

With their background in TV and film, Sara Curran and Peter Sussman are experts in presentation. Since taking over in April 2022, they have hung artworks collected on their travels, refreshed the beautiful interiors, and added a Michelin-recommended brasserie to their 'exceptional hotel'.

If you're looking for affordable luxury, this Victorian mansion in parkland, remodelled in the style of a French château, has spacious bedrooms, opulent suites, and a choice of small-plates dining or a tasting menu.

Banish images of fast-food outlets and slot machines when you break your journey at Tebay on wild and woolly Shap Fell, 60 miles from the Scottish border.

Overlooking the water towards Mull, in a 'wonderful location near the sea and harbour', this hotel on the Hebridean island of Iona has a deserved reputation for its warm welcome, fresh and creative food, and feel of restorative peace.

Verity Butterfield clearly loves to welcome guests to her loch-side Georgian house, with blazing fires, comfy sofas, good artworks, excellent breakfasts, and dinner by arrangement.

In a beautiful location on the shore of Loch Sunart, where otters swim in the waters and red squirrels scamper around the land, this 18th-century lodge offers country-house comforts and plenty of Scottish flair, ranging from tartan fabrics to homemade shortbread.

The gardens are the great glory of John and Sue Cushing's Georgian manor house deep in dairy country, with abundant home-grown produce featuring on menus, and light summer lunches served on the rose garden terrace.

The neon sign outside this former steward's house in a 1,000-acre deer park sets the tone for what to expect in this unique and interesting pub owned by art dealer Ivor Braka, with provocative works by artists such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst on display within.

There is no isle here, no lake, no bee-loud glade – the name of Richard and Janine Burton's lauded restaurant-with-rooms draws inspiration from WB Yeats's Innisfree, a place of serenity and escape.

Old-fashioned and nurturing, the Wood family's hotel in flower-filled gardens on the edge of the moors inspires devotion among those who know it.

In 'England's book town', under mighty Howgill Fells on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, this is just the place for a drover's platter and a pint – or Korean beef, shiso and sesame with a shot of wasabi vodka.

'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.

The catch of the day could be Shetland hake in the restaurant or nifty fielding on the sands at this pub-with-rooms overlooking the Firth of Forth, with its own beach cricket team.

With views to the sea across a Regency square, this townhouse hotel, which is the flagship of a small, privately owned chain, has a hip, bohemian vibe, bedrooms with bare brick walls, retro and reclaimed pieces, and a café-bar and lounge.

Refreshingly different from some more traditional Lake District offerings, this contemporary hotel is in a beautiful setting overlooking Grasmere.

Anne Boleyn's childhood home, reimagined by William Waldorf Astor as a fairytale moated castle, stands in landscaped grounds with an Edwardian 'Tudor' village, home to this exceptional B&B.

A fourth venture for Justin and Charlotte Salisbury, this 16th-century beamed farmhouse-cum-local, a former haunt of Dylan Thomas's, has a range of highly individual rooms, mostly in outbuilding with outdoor seating, as well as larky modern art, upcycled, recycled and vintage furniture, a restaurant and bar serving pub food with a difference.

A Tudor black-and-white coaching inn once known for its medieval banquets, this gastropub has taken a leap into the 21st century with smart designer bedrooms and sophisticated cooking of local and home-grown produce.

Bring the dog, bring the kids, revel in the gorgeous scenery and the great outdoors at this ‘lifestyle hotel’ with private shorefront on Ullswater and plenty of activities on offer. It's the old, staid Rampsbeck Hotel reinvented (out with the chintz and swags, on with the wetsuits or hiking boots!)

Reopened in 2024 after a £1.6 million refurbishment, this former coaching inn in a picture-perfect village is a pleasing mix of original beams, exposed stone and smart decor, with well-appointed rooms, a friendly atmosphere, and a restaurant serving pub classics alongside more inventive dishes.

Behind the solid exterior of an Edwardian park-side villa lies a Scandi-chic boutique hotel and popular drop-in restaurant.