In ‘lovely Cotswold stone buildings around a pretty courtyard’, this mostly 16th-century former coaching inn has had a stylish make-over.

‘We stumbled across the hotel quite by accident – oh, serendipity! We plan to return.’ Newcomers this year to the Hine family’s ‘gracious’ pink brick Queen Anne coaching inn join a loyal following,

The food is the main course at Janine and Richard Burton’s restaurant-with-rooms. ‘How I wish we had a restaurant anywhere near as good as this where I live now,’ writes a regular reader this year, after returning to her old Rutland haunt.

Readers ‘had a really lovely, relaxing stay’ at Lila Arora’s apricot-washed Georgian mansion, approached by an avenue of lime trees amid sheep-grazed pastures.

Surrounded by manicured lawns, wild meadow flowers and woodland, this Cotswold-stone manor house, a few miles outside Tetbury, has ‘exceptional staff, excellent service, delightful furnishings’.

‘Very enjoyable; a place for relaxing weekends and special occasions,’ say Guide inspectors of the ‘beautifully proportioned Queen Anne mansion in spacious grounds’.

Overlooking National Trust parkland, this Georgian country house has ‘a real sense of grandeur’, say inspectors in 2018.

A lovely little hotel,’ writes a reader on a return visit to Hari and Colin Fell’s ingeniously converted farm buildings in the Forest of Dean.

On the ‘picturesque green’ of a ‘peaceful and stunning’ Cotswolds village, this 400-year-old inn was taken over in 2015 by two local families, providing a welcome breath of new life.

Hereford Castle is long gone, but ducks bob happily on the old moat beside the terraced garden of the Watkins family’s hotel.

Returning guests in 2018 ‘enjoyed a relaxing time in warmth and comfort’ at Tim Hart’s purpose-built hotel, on the former ramparts of Nottingham’s medieval castle.

From the moment of arrival at this Tudor manor house on the banks of the River Wye, say readers, ‘we knew this was the place where we wanted to spend time.’

For ‘a quiet weekend in a friendly, characterful hotel among bucolic surroundings’, John and Sue Cushing’s red brick Georgian manor ‘fits the bill perfectly’.

‘We were made so welcome and were well looked after,’ writes a reader, of a stay at this pub-with-rooms at the meeting point of two old drovers’ roads.

‘Twin sentinel clipped yews’ stand at the entrance of this 15th-century half-timbered stone hotel, part of the Cotswolds Inns and Hotels group.

In a ‘stunning setting’ that inspired CS Lewis, this 18th-century dower house stands high in the Malvern hills.

With ‘superb views’ of spectacular limestone cliffs, Chris and Zoe Hipwell’s Georgian town house hotel is ‘a very special spot’ near the River Derwent.

‘Helpful owner’ Pam Talboys runs her ‘beautifully appointed’ B&B in a Grade II listed late 16th-century building overlooking a Cotswold High Street of mellow stone houses.

A regular visitor to this ‘old favourite’ in 2018 found The Clive to be ‘as good as ever,’ with plenty to satisfy epicures.

A cheerful welcome awaits horses, hikers and hounds at Izzy Barnard’s wild flower-filled Georgian house in prime Shropshire hacking and walking country.

A series of disused outbuildings on the Marriott family’s small arable farm has been converted into homely B&B rooms.

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.

The Slater siblings have country comfort down to a fine art at their stylish 18th-century coaching inn – a local hotspot for real ales, signature cocktails and zesty pub classics.