Rick and Jill Stein’s boutique restaurant-with-rooms has been riding the crest of a wave since it opened more than four decades ago.

You can order a picnic hamper and walk down to a private beach through lovely gardens at Paul and Fiona Robinson’s New England-inspired hotel, or just relax on the deck, gazing across Gerrans Bay.

The Mount is St Michael’s, a tidal island best viewed from your bedroom balcony or the terrace of this hotel overlooking the bay.

‘An eligible, self-contained gentleman’s residence, very unique. . . with every modern convenience. . .’ So Kenneth Graham describes Toad Hall, which he modelled on this Victorian mansion, a baroque extravaganza with sumptuous interiors, overlooking the Fowey estuary.

‘A super place. The real deal.’ Praise from Guide insiders for Chris and Sally Searle’s B&B, in the rectory where Thomas Hardy courted Emma Gifford.

‘Perched high on the Lizard cliffs with views out to sea and the sound of waves at night, the setting could not be more romantic.’

After a day spent exploring the shops and galleries of St Ives, guests at Malcolm Herring’s hilltop private hotel can relax on the seaward terrace with a Blue Hayes Colada and feel serenely above it all.

‘They really want to give you a treat and spoil you.’ ‘A lovely and relaxing couple of days.’ Much praise this year for Charles and Edmund Inkin’s ‘buzzy’ dining pub.  

The Inkin brothers’ dining pub is a popular watering hole for hikers on the Coastal Path. Set out from here to explore cliffs and coves, see seals basking on the Carracks, discover the farm source of Moormaid of Zennor ice cream.

‘We have stayed at this hotel for many years; it is still brilliant.’ High praise in 2019 for Hazel Billington and Ross Lewin’s ‘small, beautiful’ hotel, between the historic fishing ports of Looe and Polperro.

Steps from the Coastal Path, this friendly small hotel offers a variety of walking and strolling options. Head across country to the Lost Gardens of Heligan – lost no more – and return for a Cornish cream tea.

Overlooking Summerleaze surfers’ beach, with its 1930s tidal pool and brightly coloured beach huts, the Victorian Summerleaze Court Hotel has been reinvented in hip New England style.

Bird’s-eye views of the Lizard peninsula, little luxuries and a relaxed air turn this cliff-top hotel into a stress-busting retreat.

Surf’s up! Above Fistral Beach, the Armstrong family’s child- and dog-friendly hotel overlooks one of Cornwall’s surfing hotspots.

Surrounded by farms and woodland, the gardens of Will and Lisa Lea’s family-friendly pub-with-rooms are verdant with giant ferns and tiny orchids and contain a lake, an arboretum and wildlife areas.

‘A spoiling welcome’ from hosts Rosie and David Reeve sets the tone at their ‘ideally located’ seafront B&B.

‘A very good environment.’ Whether testing the surf for the first time, or paddleboarding like an old pro, there’s a pursuit to suit at Will Ashworth’s ‘great’ beachside hotel.

In an unspoilt fishing village, stepped lawns are all that separates this ‘welcoming, relaxed hotel’ from the sea.

A frisbee fling from the waterfront, Philippa McKnight and David Hoyes’s intimate B&B is a soothing place to be beside the seaside.

Blow all cares away with a welcoming glass of champagne on arrival at Andrea and Simon Copper’s sleekly designed, child-free retreat.

In ‘glorious’ grounds’ Martin Barlow’s hotel, golf resort and spa on the Helford river returns to a full entry this year thanks to a trusted reader and frequent guest who loves ‘the personalised hospitality and the attention of good staff’.

‘One of our favourite hotels,’ enthuses a reader about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s quirky and luxurious cliff-top hideaway in this south Cornish seaside hamlet.

Chef Paul Ainsworth’s parents owned a Southampton guest house, where dinner might be dad’s corned beef hash with Bisto gravy. His own enterprises are more high end, the rooms here complementing Michelin-starred Paul Ainsworth at No. 6 in downtown Padstow.

Built as a small hotel, this bright, airy property, 'halfway up the hill behind Carbis Bay beach', has been offering 'stunning sea views' since 1931.