In a Knights Templar village with a backdrop of imposing Cross Fell mountain, a Georgian mansion and converted coach house are home to a personable small hotel.

Wooded hillside forms a pleasing backdrop to this ‘comfortable country hotel’ in an ‘optimal position’ for exploring the northern Lakes.

The view is one of marshes and moored boats, of creeks and children crabbing, from Emma Stannard’s well-established, family-friendly hotel on the quayside of a coastal village.

‘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.

‘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.

‘The setting, ambience and gardens are possibly the most attractive of any hotel we’ve stayed in, anywhere,’ writes a Guide reader this year of the Turner family’s country hotel, in a 16th-century priory on the River Frome.

‘The valley in which this inn sits seems to me one of the loveliest places on earth; from the back of the inn, the views of fells, river and parkland landscape are just about perfect. And the stillness at night is magical.’

Thick stone walls, beamed ceilings, works by local artists, an inglenook fire and ‘friendly, hospitable hosts’ give this 16th-century country house-turned-hotel heaps of rustic charm.

‘Timeless standards of comfort’ keep guests coming back to this Italianate mansion ‘in a wonderful position’ on the River Usk.

Approached via quiet lanes bordered by hedgerows and dark-limbed trees, Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s Victorian hunting lodge-turned-country house hotel stands in extensive grounds stretching to a lake on the River Irfon.

Amid stone walls and wooded lanes deep in the Wye valley, Chris and Kirsty Harrod’s Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms is liked for its ‘relaxing atmosphere’, ‘excellent, professional staff’ and ‘unpretentious, really super food’.

Overlooking a bay on the Argyll coast, Calum and Rachel Ross’s ‘friendly, good-value’ country house, next door to the exotic Arduaine Garden, is in ‘the most stunning spot’.

‘Everything is presented with care and style’ at Sally and David Ruthven-Fox’s small hotel on the ‘peaceful shores’ of Loch Sunart.

History hangs about Roderick and Helena Perceval’s Georgian mansion, approached via a drive through sheep-grazed parkland.

From the Georgian steps of pale-pink Enniscoe House, take in the ‘enchanting view of Lough Conn shimmering through a break in the woods’.

‘Supremely comfortable in that unique Irish country house way’, this pink-washed Regency manor house on the shores of Ballinakill Bay continues to please, say Guide readers this year.

‘The wonderful views of Lough Corrib, combined with warm, easy-going hospitality, make this a place in which we could stay for ages.’

Peace and quiet surround the O’Hara family’s Georgian mansion, which stands in great expanses of woodland and pasture for sheep and red deer.

For more than a century, the Baldry family’s ancient farmhouse has stood in this remote, ‘very special setting’, where the ‘fantastic views’ reach over the garden and the sheep-dotted fields to the fells beyond.

Friendly, folksy, ‘comfy and unpretentious’, Gill and Archie MacLellan’s ‘terrific inn’ stands in ‘a glorious location’ on the shores of Loch Fyne.

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.'

Steeped in stories of baronets and scandalous affairs, Susannah and Stuart Macpherson’s ‘beautiful Georgian house’ is today a ‘simply lovely hotel’ standing in extensive gardens ‘magnificent with mature trees’.

‘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.

Approached up a long drive, this ‘beautifully maintained’ 18th-century country house stands in extensive grounds – ‘a delight tn the eye’.