Amid the sublime sweep of a Grade I listed Georgian crescent, two converted town houses combine as one luxury hotel affording ‘magical vistas’ over lawns and public parkland.

‘The welcome is always friendly’ at Joanna and Mark Donovan’s ‘likeable’ country hotel in a former priests’ house dating back to the 13th century.

Somerset born and Somerset bred, Louise and David Farrance have run their B&B in this wisteria-hung 15th-century Somerset longhouse for nearly ten years.

‘There’s lots of room to play and run around’ at this ‘pretty, rambling manor house’ in ‘fantastic grounds’ on the edge of the Cotswolds.

‘The beautiful location, wonderful service and excellent food keep us coming back.’

‘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’.

Guests in search of an ‘authentic, olde-worlde atmosphere’ find it in the flagstone passageways, huge fireplaces, wonky beams and creaky floorboards of this 15th-century coaching inn, in an ‘exquisitely preserved’ National Trust village.

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

A stroll from the town centre, Rick and Jill Stein’s restaurant-with-rooms – ‘a foodie destination’ – opened as a modest bistro in 1975.

‘A charming place in a charming situation’, Fiona and Paul Robinson’s ‘stylish, informal’ New England-inspired hotel soaks in the spread of Gerrans Bay.

Richard and Brian Prideaux-Brune, with Richard’s wife, Alison, run their Jacobean ancestral home as a characterful – some say eccentric – hotel where guests are ‘cosseted and cared for’ by ‘charming staff’.

A spirit of fun flits about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s cliff-top hotel, from the sub-tropical sculpture garden full of surprises (‘you feel like Alice walking into Wonderland’) to the ‘delightfully humorous artwork scattered throughout’.

In a ‘very quiet’ Chew Valley hamlet criss-crossed by public footpaths ideal for a ramble, this ‘most appealing’ inn is ‘a good base and a real bargain’, say Guide readers this year.

A short stroll from the beach, this ‘top-of-the-class’, ‘exceptionally family-friendly’ hotel is ‘in a great cliff-top location’ overlooking the sea.

Black swans glide on the lake in the garden; sun pours in through Venetian windows. Here, perched on a lynch, or ridge, above the Cary river valley, is a classic Georgian country house run as a B&B with ‘a touch of class’.

‘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.

The Pear Tree at Purton closed down on January 2nd, 2018. It has had an entry in the Guide for many years. Anne Young, the owner, who has retired after more than 30 years helping customers, says: 'making happy memories for guests has been a pleasure.'

‘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.’

‘Comfort and homeliness’ draw guests to this 17th-century mellow-stone house in a tranquil, ‘totally unspoilt’ village in the valley of the River Nadder.

There’s no escaping the sweep of the sea at this ‘really super hotel’ above Falmouth Bay: a wraparound deck catches the sun; French doors in the restaurant open on to terraces; nearly all the bedrooms look across the water towards St Anthony’s lighthouse.

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

‘High standards are upheld’ at Ariane and Jamie Jones’s ‘lovely’ restaurant-with-rooms deep in Thomas Hardy country, say returning guests in 2017.

‘There are no flashy bits, just a friendly atmosphere and good, old-fashioned hospitality’ at Ann and Ian Dyer’s rural B&B on the family farm at the foot of the Quantock hills.