‘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’.

On a tranquil side street in a picture-postcard market town on the River Windrush, this higgledy-piggledy old inn pleased Guide inspectors with its ‘classic Cotswold ambience’.

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.

Far-reaching views across sheep-spotted countryside spool away from this ‘splendid’ 300-year-old malthouse-turned-restaurant-with-rooms above the Evenlode valley.

A popular pub-with-rooms in a tiny, ‘beguiling’ village close to the Thames, The Plough’s warm welcome and foodie credentials are appreciated as much by locals (and their dogs) as by guests from farther afield.

‘The best of old-world charm and modern facilities’, this child-friendly hotel in a Cotswolds market town near Blenheim Palace has bags of personality.

A wisteria-festooned arch frames the entry to this prettily refurbished hotel, in a hilly Cotswold town.

Owner George Dailey revitalised this honey-stone roadside pub from a tired pub into a popular village hub.

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 ‘delightful, friendly place’, this ‘extraordinarily good-value’ 17th-century mellow stone coaching inn has an authentic country air.

A discrete buttling theme permeates Paul Smyth and Shaun Bailey’s ‘enjoyable, quirky’ B&B in a former 19th-century gentleman’s residence.

In cluster of Cotswold stone buildings, Chris York and Kate Lewis run their all-round inviting pub-with-rooms with great community spirit.

‘Little has changed over the centuries’ at this Tudor coaching inn in a National Trust village. Familiar to Harry Potter fans as the Babberton Arms, it was once home to Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

‘We visit Oxford every year and the Old Parsonage never disappoints.’

Close to Batsford Park, once home to the Mitfords, and its arboretum, this Cotswold-stone Georgian inn remains friendly and affordable after a seamless transition from private ownership to the Cirrus Inns group in 2016.

A former draper’s and mercer’s–turned–bank, opposite the Bodleian Library, is these days a smart bar, restaurant and hotel.

Ducks glide on a brook that bisects a village green, overlooked by a Cotswold stone pub, owned by Nicola and Archie Orr-Ewing, who also manage The Swan Inn at Swinbrook (see entry).

In its deepest fabric 14th-century, this former coaching inn could, by the 1860s, boast of its hot and cold baths; a more recent revamp has gone much further.

The scent of freshly baked bread wafts through this affable B&B in a leafy suburb, gently hailing the start of a new day.

Around the corner from Pittville Park, this contemporary B&B stands on a tree-lined street, a stroll from the town centre.

Close to the centre of this Regency town, Fan and Alan Bishop’s white-painted Victorian villa B&B is a good base during festivals, races and all things in between.

Quirky and sophisticated: Lana and Sebastian Snow twist expectations at their 18th-century Cotswold dining pub-with-rooms.

With an eye on the Imperial Gardens across the road, this well-restored Georgian villa has a bijou, grown-up atmosphere.