A new entry to the Guide this year, the latest addition to the Pig litter (see index) is set in a Jacobean manor house just outside Canterbury. ‘Any fan of the other Pigs would love this one too,’ says our inspector.

Double-moated 13th-century Hever Castle, the childhood home of ill-fated Anne Boleyn, is now home to a sumptuous B&B.

‘We were very well looked after,’ report readers in 2019. From on high, ‘warm, attentive’ Wendy and Neil Burrows’s farmhouse enjoys stunning sunsets over the Alkham Valley.

With spectacular views over rolling countryside, Claire Finley’s elegant, white-painted Georgian guest house stands in well-maintained gardens.

‘From the moment the front door opened, we were made to feel most welcome.’ Guide inspectors were deeply impressed this year when visiting David and Rona Pitchford’s restaurant-with-rooms in a Georgian manor house on the outskirts of this market town.

Approached by a long, tree-lined drive, Daisy and Clive Hayley’s B&B is the ‘perfect weekend getaway’, an ideal base for exploring Kent's stately homes and castles.

J M W Turner would take the steam packet down the Thames to Margate. Today Londoners can hop aboard HS2 at St Pancras mid-morning, and enjoy lunch with a sea view at Nick Conington’s ‘friendly’ hotel.

Above the town, a newly built hotel with a ‘distant view of sea’ across fields and houses.

Assertive and stylish, this dark-timber-and-glass, purpose-built restaurant-with-rooms cantilevers over the harbour, offering striking Channel views.

Guests to Dane and Sarah Allchorne’s ‘enjoyable’ pub-with-rooms may well feel like the cats that got the cream.

Within an architect-designed complex, this contemporary hotel enjoys a ‘prime position’ in the ‘serene grounds’ of the UNESCO-designated World Heritage site. At breakfast in the busy refectory or on the terrace, a ‘small buffet’ and ‘well-served’ hot dishes lay heavenly foundations for the day. Guests have free admission to the cathedral and its precincts, and discounts at local restaurants, ‘many within easy walking distance’.

Two ‘tastefully refurbished’ Regency town houses near the harbour combine into this ‘buzzy, friendly’ pub-with-rooms.

With a leafy garden overlooking the common, Robert and Sally Hogben’s nattily refurbished Georgian building is an appealing spot for an alfresco rendezvous.

‘We had an absolutely lovely stay.’ ‘Such a graceful house’ in ‘one of England’s best preserved medieval towns’. Trusted Guide readers staying in 2019 joined fans in feeling ‘truly cosseted’ at this Queen Anne-style house.