‘In a lovely location in quiet countryside’, Christopher and Andrea Varley’s 400-year-old manor house stands in wooded grounds with views across the Vale of Cartmel.

Bong, bong! It is dinner time at this ancient farmhouse-turned-hotel in grounds bordering Lake Ullswater, where the gong still summons guests to table.

Children thrill to stay in this fantasy castle with its free-and-easy ethos. Books and games, a cinema, flexible meal times, tennis, a playground and ‘Little Cooks’ school add up to a recipe for a happy holiday.

In ‘one of the prettiest villages in south Lakeland’, Richard Rose’s former 18th-century coaching inn is firmly on Cumbria’s culinary map.

‘Once we had found our way round the one-way streets of Kirkby Lonsdale, we were shown up to a lovely corner room overlooking an alleyway and the church.’ Praise this year from readers for Iain and Jenny Black’s 400-year-old inn in a market town between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

Hugged by wooded grounds, the peaceful atmosphere, broad views and walks from the doorstep draw guests back to this comfortable Lakeland hotel.

‘Marvellous stay.’ The Read family’s ‘wonderfully old-fashioned’ hotel draws back regular guests for the ‘wonderful food and very friendly staff’.

'Glorious fell views’, ‘excellent food’ and ‘capable, obliging staff’ are found at this family-friendly spot on the lower slopes of Skiddaw.

Ideally placed for exploring the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, Paul Spencer's laid-back inn sprawls comfortably on the road to Lupton.

'A really classic walkers' delight', the former 18th-century farmhouse and one-time miners' tavern continues its century-old tradition of providing accommodation for visitors and hikers, and the Downey family's inn now provides food too.

In the Lyth valley, Becky and Ash Dewar’s 16th-century hostelry is a village pub ‘with a modern twist’.

‘How wonderful it would be if many service areas (and indeed motorway hotels) could be like this one.’

‘Simply awesome,' writes a reader this year, about this 'fabulous' hotel on wooded slopes overlooking Grasmere.

‘This will become our stop-over of choice on the way to west Scotland.’ A full entry this year for Alison and Andi Sambrook's ‘small, unpretentious hotel’ opposite the green in a village bypassed by the A66.

Enfolded within verdant gardens, an 18th-century country house with ‘stunning views’ across to the Langdale Pikes.

A gabled Arts and Crafts country house in extensive grounds with ‘tantalising’ views of Lake Windermere and Coniston Fells.

Fell walkers, climbers – including some of Britain’s greatest mountaineers – and sleepy travellers have sought this unpretentious, dog-friendly inn, in a ‘glorious setting’, for more than 300 years.

On a wonderfully scenic perch above Windermere, Tracey Robinson and Joanna Harbottle’s 19th-century stone-and-slate country house is a ‘very welcoming’ retreat.

The verdant surrounds of this Victorian country house above Lake Windermere make an inspiring setting,

By an arched stone bridge, ‘an imposing edifice’ surrounded by gardens that sweep down to the River Leven, the Bardsley family’s ‘good-value’, child-friendly former 17th-century coaching house is a lively, welcoming spot.