Rick and Jill Stein’s boutique restaurant-with-rooms has been riding the crest of a wave since it opened more than four decades ago.

You can order a picnic hamper and walk down to a private beach through lovely gardens at Paul and Fiona Robinson’s New England-inspired hotel, or just relax on the deck, gazing across Gerrans Bay.

The Mount is St Michael’s, a tidal island best viewed from your bedroom balcony or the terrace of this hotel overlooking the bay.

‘Expensive certainly, but it’s worth paying for quality.’

‘There’s Toad Hall…’ said the Rat, ‘…one of the nicest houses in these parts.’ Nice, indeed. And with so much laid on for kids at this manor house (said to have been Kenneth Graham’s model for Toad Hall), parents can truly relax.

‘Perched high on the Lizard cliffs with views out to sea and the sound of waves at night, the setting could not be more romantic.’

‘They really want to give you a treat and spoil you.’ ‘A lovely and relaxing couple of days.’ Much praise this year for Charles and Edmund Inkin’s ‘buzzy’ dining pub.  

‘It never fails to please,’ write Guide regulars in 2019 after a return visit to Charles and Edmund Inkin’s dining pub with rooms. ‘We highly recommend the accommodation and the food.’

‘We have stayed at this hotel for many years; it is still brilliant.’ High praise in 2019 for Hazel Billington and Ross Lewin’s ‘small, beautiful’ hotel, between the historic fishing ports of Looe and Polperro.

'Sitting on the cliff-tops on the outskirts of Mevagissey’, John and Susan Gladwin’s small hotel is ‘relaxed and informal with a nicely varied age range of guests’, writes a trusted reader this year.

Overlooking Summerleaze surfers’ beach, with its 1930s tidal pool and brightly coloured beach huts, the Victorian Summerleaze Court Hotel has been reinvented in hip New England style.

‘Forget overcrowded St Ives – there’s a real treat of a stay in Penzance.’ Quirky character fills the ‘beautifully restored’ brick-and-granite former 18th-century former admiral’s house, but ‘this inviting boutique hotel is all about the hostess, Susan Stuart’.

Bird’s-eye views of the Lizard peninsula, little luxuries and a relaxed air turn this cliff-top hotel into a stress-busting retreat.

Surf’s up! Above Fistral Beach, the Armstrong family’s child- and dog-friendly hotel overlooks one of Cornwall’s surfing hotspots.

‘Great for a relaxing time’, Lynda and Malcolm Cook’s ‘delightful’ B&B has ‘fabulous’ views stretching across Falmouth Bay.

‘A very good environment.’ Whether testing the surf for the first time, or paddleboarding like an old pro, there’s a pursuit to suit at Will Ashworth’s ‘great’ beachside hotel.

Wake to the sound of the sea and exhilarating Atlantic views at Pete and Jacqui Fair’s cliff-edge hotel hovering on the edge of Pentire Headland.

Tucked into a sloping street behind the harbour, this ‘achingly cool’ 17th-century house has ‘lovely staff’, ‘well-appointed bedrooms’ and ‘tasty breakfasts’.

A frisbee fling from the waterfront, Philippa McKnight and David Hoyes’s intimate B&B is a soothing place to be beside the seaside.

Across the causeway from St Michael’s Mount, which, ‘caught in the evening sunset really is a magical prospect’, James and Mary St Levan’s ‘fabulous (and fabulously dog-friendly)’ inn wins praise for its ‘excellent accommodation’ and ‘attentive, professional staff’.

In ‘glorious’ grounds’ Martin Barlow’s hotel, golf resort and spa on the Helford river returns to a full entry this year thanks to a trusted reader and frequent guest who loves ‘the personalised hospitality and the attention of good staff’.

‘One of our favourite hotels,’ enthuses a reader about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s quirky and luxurious cliff-top hideaway in this south Cornish seaside hamlet.

‘We found seats on the attractive terrace’ with ‘views across St Mawes harbour to Falmouth Bay’ reports a lunchtime visitor to Caroline and David Richards’s ‘superb’ hotel.

This ‘fantastic, large family home’ was repurposed a decade ago as a B&B and popular wedding venue by its owners, the Le Grice family, who have lived at Treave for seven generations.