There is a relaxed, timeless ambience at this grown-up 19th-century country house (Relais & Château), but things have moved on apace, with fine dining now at the very heart of the operation.

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’.

‘This is one of the best country houses we have stayed in,’ writes a reader, of this white-painted Georgian gentleman’s residence with glorious views over Esthwaite Water to the Langdale Pikes.

With an enviable position on Windermere, this Georgian hall has a relaxed country house feel, with formal and casual dining options, and bedrooms ranging from family friendly to seriously swanky.

A 17th-century former coaching inn overlooking the Levens estuary is today a likeable, dog-friendly pub-with-rooms, offering homely bedrooms, some with balcony, casual bar meals, and dinner served by candlelight in the conservatory.

‘In a beautiful setting at the tip of Lake Windermere, overlooking the River Leven,’ this family-friendly hotel unveiled an extension in 2022.

‘A friendly, proper local pub bar, as well as a restaurant’, this 18th-century coaching inn at the heart of the Lowther Estate is set back from the A6, with a view of fields and grazing horses

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’.