A linden avenue leads to this apricot-washed Georgian mansion in parkland, beside St Andrew’s 
church in a Vale of Belvoir village, with a river running through.

On the doorstep of the Westonbirt Arboretum with 2,500 species of trees, and just round the corner from Highgrove, the Hare and Hounds sits in its own gardens and woodlands in a pretty corner of the Cotswolds.

With a ‘spectacular location’ in a small village high in the White Peak landscape, James Moffett’s Grade II* listed manor house with its stone floors, oak beams and mullioned windows also offers ‘excellent value for money’.

The style is 17th century and the interiors Jacobean, but Max and Susan Fischer’s manor house in ‘stunningly beautiful’ grounds on the edge of a Peak District village was built in 1907.

‘We felt as if we had been invited to stay with friends,’ says one reviewer of this welcoming B&B in the heart of Jane Eyre country.

Overlooking the green in a Cotswolds village, and decked with hanging baskets, this pretty pub-with-rooms was in the doldrums before two local families took it on and spruced it up.

A vast, prolific kitchen garden is the perennial glory of John and Sue Cushing’s red brick Georgian manor house in flower-filled acres amid gentle countryside.

At the meetings of two ancient drovers’ roads, close to the Welsh border, Steve and Nicola Reynolds’s rural village dining-pub-with-rooms has been a foodie destination for more than 20 years.

Just a couple of miles from the A1, down a tree-lined road, is a great combination of gastropub and luxury B&B.

With her infectious laugh and ready endearments, hostess Lorraine Willoughby is the life and soul of this gastropub-with-rooms in a friendly rural village, but there is much besides to like.

With a free jukebox, Art Deco piano, loyalty cards and children’s menus, this dog-friendly 18th-century inn is truly a community hub.

Swans no longer glide on the lake in gardens laid out by Joseph Paxton of Crystal Palace fame in front of this bay-fronted Victorian home, close to the opera house.

Immortalised as ‘The Donnithorne Arms’ in George Eliot’s Adam Bede, this Victorian pub was boarded up before Johnny and Laura Greenall stepped in to save it.

A traditional pub in a Peak District village, the former Old Pump now struts its stuff as the Peacock dining pub-with-rooms and onsite brewery.

Zoe and Chris Hipwell’s personable small hotel has ‘superb’ views, across the rooftops of the historic spa village, towards limestone cliffs and the River Derwent.

Pam Talboys runs her ‘beautifully appointed’ B&B on a quiet cul-de-sac in this honey-hued village.

A 2019 makeover gave this 18th-century building a string of smart bedrooms and a modern, open-plan bar and restaurant, ten minutes’ drive from Ludlow.

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

Adjoining their small arable farm, the Marriott family has converted a series of outbuildings into homely B&B rooms.

Like ducks to water, locals flock to this stylish 18th-century coaching inn, drawn to its modern country comforts and ‘extremely good’ food.

A trot up the bridleway reaches this ‘excellent’ B&B, in a rural setting next to an oak wood.

In a historic wool town, the classic Cotswold-stone exterior of this ‘likeable’ 17th-century inn gives way to a cool, contemporary decor that mixes wooden beams and ancient floorboards with Scandi-chic furnishings, a fine cocktail list and a family-friendly feel.

Amid the green fields of the Stroud valleys, Fiona Shiner’s family-owned vineyard and winery shelter a modern B&B.

In one of the prettiest villages in the Cotswolds, this Palladian house overlooking the Slad valley in Laurie Lee country is a soothing escape for rattled city-dwellers.

‘We had a wonderful family holiday here.

The late Rosemary Verey, doyenne of the 20th-century English country garden, created the flourishing grounds at this 17th-century Cotswold stone mansion, her home from the late 1950s.

‘The staff were friendly and helpful, the setting on the village green was delightful – what a wonderful place to stay,’ says a trusted reviewer of this Cotswolds inn-with-rooms.

Judy Gardner’s restaurant-with-rooms and purpose-built cookery school sit amid a working farm in the Avon valley.

Its past as a 12th-century Cistercian abbey bestows ‘character, eccentricity and individuality at its best’ on this atmospheric hotel, which stands amid a ‘well-maintained’ country park and ‘superb’ formal gardens.

Christine and Rupert Farmer offer guests a slice of the good life at their B&B on a small organic farm – and greet them with a piece of home-baked cake. Close to the Shropshire Way, the 18th-century farmhouse has cottage-style bedrooms full of spoiling touches: fresh flowers, magazines, and a regularly topped-up hospitality tray. In each, views of the pretty garden or towards the Wrekin.

Books line the sitting-room shelves at Sarah and Tim Davis’s ‘beautifully decorated’ B&B in the heart of the historic town – an apt scene for a Grade II listed Georgian town house that was once the village library.

Tim and Denise Perkin run their well-regarded B&B in a suburban house, close to the farmhouse where Anne Hathaway lived as a child.

Busy hens are the only neighbours at Joan and Martin Slack’s ‘charming, welcoming’ B&B, on a 150-acre working farm in the Derbyshire Dales.

The hub of a pretty Cotswolds village, this mellow-stone pub-with-rooms (Calcot Collection) is liked for its stylish accommodation and relaxed nature.

In the late 17th century, the Honourable Order of Little Bedlam (an aristocratic drinking club) rampaged through this coaching inn – today an altogether more upstanding crowd come for the modern pub grub, cinema nights and the garden’s ‘pizza potting shed’ (open on warm-weather weekends). Characterful bedrooms mix vintage furnishings and modern conveniences. Some have exposed stones or feature wallpaper, perhaps an original fireplace, mullioned window.

Within easy reach of the city centre and Worcester cathedral, this ‘spotless’ B&B is in a ‘peaceful’ rural hamlet, just right for ‘a good night’s sleep’.

Diane Chadwick is the ‘wonderfully energetic, helpful’ hostess at this ‘splendid’ town-centre B&B within walking distance of the Shropshire hills.

‘Clearly very popular’, Mel and Martin Board’s whitewashed 17th-century village inn draws ramblers, cyclists, locals and their dogs.

‘B&Bs this good are rare,’ write hoteliers who stayed at Jane and William Pusey’s 16th-century manor house.