‘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’.

‘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.’

Old-school service and attention to detail come to the fore at this ‘splendid place’ overlooking Lyme Bay.

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.

‘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’.

‘No airs and graces here’: guests enjoy the ‘friendly informality’, ‘care and concern’ and ready supply of leaf teas (‘oh, joy!’) at Richard Hendey’s small hotel, in a restored Georgian rectory between Dartmoor and the Devon coast.

‘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’.

‘The Grose family maintains its excellent tradition’ of providing first-class hospitality near the rugged Devon coastline, where consecutive generations have run the family-friendly hotel for more than 120 years.

Well placed for walkers on the South West Coast Path, this 19th-century fisherman’s inn faces the beach on Start Bay.

‘As delightful as ever’, reports a trusted Guide correspondent in 2017, of Adam Fox-Edwards’s former coaching inn–turned–sporting hotel near Dartmoor.

‘We will return,’ vowed regular Guide correspondents after a stay at Chris Daly’s 18th-century manor at the heart of Dartmoor – and so they have, to find it, in 2017, as ‘friendly and laid-back’ as ever.

Rock-solid traditional values win praise for the Graves family’s late Georgian village inn, at the centre of a terrace of cottages on the edge of Dartmoor.

Narrow country lanes lead to the D’Allen family’s hotel in sub-tropical gardens overlooking Lyme Bay.

In a village on the Jurassic coast, step through the ivy-wrapped threshold of this 14th-century former cider house and into a popular pub-with-rooms.

Overlooking the bay, this large, traditional hotel is ‘old-fashioned in the best sense of the word’.

‘Warm and familiar’, this country hotel, in ‘a chocolate-box-perfect part of Exmoor’, has been refurbished in a ‘luxurious, contemporary’ style by its owner, Claire Carter.

At high tide, the waves come up to the wraparound terrace of this ‘beautifully designed’ beachside hotel, sheltered in a pretty cove.

Rinus and Aniet van de Sande have created a much-praised meeting point for art, culture and hospitality at their ‘mildly eccentric’ late-Victorian hotel in a quiet Devon valley.

On the Salcombe estuary, this Victorian hotel makes the most of the panoramic vista across the water, with wide terraces, huge windows and binoculars in the bedrooms to take in the views.

Pack the wellies and be ready to go off-road: this inviting quayside hotel welcomes dogs and muddy boots coming off the South West Coast Path.

An inn since the 1720s, this characterful place rich in maritime history continues to welcome weary travellers to the old port and ship-building town.

At the gate of an ancient Roman wall, this old inn (Young’s Brewery) close to the cathedral was given a stylish makeover in 2017.