‘Down country lanes and a mile-long private drive’, this Elizabethan manor house is the Miss Piggy among Robin Hutson’s quirky country house hotels (see index). Like that porcine diva, it embodies fabulosity with a dash of irresistibility and a great, big dollop of attitude.

In a peaceful Devon valley, this family-run historic manor house is loved for its architecture, romantic atmosphere, attention to detail and fine food.

The deliciously remote setting in a tiny Exmoor hamlet is as ‘exceptional’ as the food at this small hotel just 500 yards from the coast path, with views over hog-backed cliffs to the Bristol Channel.

It's partly the lovely situation, with a 'stunning panorama' across the Avon estuary to Burgh Island, partly the warmth of the welcome that bring some of our readers back to this beachside bolt-hole time and again.

Olga Polizzi’s cottage-orné with tall chimneys, verandas, gables and dormers, in an Arcadian landscape on the River Tamar, is full of flair – and of history.

It's the commitment to cooking as much as possible on site that distinguishes this small hotel, occupying a former Georgian rectory in the rolling South Hams countryside, between rugged Dartmoor and the beautiful Erme estuary.

‘Divine countryside views’ sweep away from Olivia and Hugo Guest’s Georgian house, on the hilltop of their 15-acre smallholding.

Surrounded by orchards and woodland deep in the Taw valley, this wisteria-hung 18th-century manor house is a ‘very comfortable’ hideaway.

Come down a single-track road to reach this Teign valley pub, its thatched roof, cob walls and wide stone fireplaces.