In a quiet corner of Cumbria, close to Hadrian’s Wall, this long-established hotel exudes the traditional comforts of a country house but with a modern elegance.

If you want a hotel with hi-tech wizardry and hot tubs, this place is not for you, but ‘if you are happy with traditional hospitality’ and ‘like to be cosseted, Howtown Hotel will do nicely’.

With an enviable position on Windermere, this Georgian hall has a relaxed country house style, a choice of dining and bedrooms ranging from family-friendly to seriously swanky.

Overlooking the Levens estuary, watch the tide race in from Robert Lyons and Lesley Wheeler’s traditional pub-with-rooms – it’s a thrilling sight that harks centuries back to when the inn was a stopover for coaches and horses before they crossed the sands to Lancaster.

By a stone arched bridge, this ‘imposing edifice’ is in an idyllic waterside spot, surrounded by gardens that sweep down to the River Leven.

A ‘convivial’ country pub with cosy rooms and ‘very good’ food, the Lowther family’s restored 18th-century coaching inn near Ullswater retains its rural roots.

Cosy, low-ceilinged and wood fire-warmed, this smartly refurbished 17th-century pub in the centre of a Lake District village is ‘friendly, fun and very convivial’.

Between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks, in the quiet Eden valley, this country house B&B offers an elegant retreat against a background of fell views.