‘A superb hotel,’ reports a trusted reader in 2019, of Robin Hutson’s Elizabethan manor at the end of a mile-long drive.

‘There is a timeless feel and magic about the setting’ of this Jacobean manor house. It stands in 'immaculate gardens in Thomas Hardy’s ‘vale of little dairies’.

‘This hotel is amazingly charming.’ A reader was delighted this year by a stay at this 16th-century priory-turned-hotel, ‘in a beautiful location’ beside the church and the River Frome.

The Mount is St Michael’s, a tidal island best viewed from your bedroom balcony or the terrace of this hotel overlooking the bay.

'Such a romantic spot.’ Deep in the Nadder valley, amid narrow country lanes that are ‘a pleasure to get lost in’, this 17th-century house is owned by Grahame and Prue Senior and Simon and Charlotte Greenwood.

‘Expensive certainly, but it’s worth paying for quality.’

On the family dairy farm on the edge of the Quantock hills, Ann and Ian Dyer run this 15th-century manor house with chapel as a 'warm, welcoming' B&B.

Maureen Rowlatt is the ‘charming’ hostess at this B&B in a private valley, surrounded by gardens that extend into woodland and fields – an ideal spot for exploring Dartmoor and the Tamar valley.

‘An idyllic place. . . absolute heaven.’ So say regular visitors to Martyn Scarterfield and Petra Lampe’s dog-friendly B&B with ‘fabulous views’ over Bigbury Bay.

Et in Arcadia we go – to Olga Polizzi’s Regency cottage-orné, in gardens and pleasure grounds with woodland walks and waterfalls, arboretum, fount and follies.

There are ‘no airs and graces’ at this Georgian rectory-cum-hotel in the gentle South Hams countryside between Dartmoor and the South Devon coast.

‘Very much the country pub, with a warm buzz to it’, this old coaching inn, built around a cobbled courtyard, stands at the heart of a historic stone village.

An Edwardian hunting lodge, rumoured to have served in the 1960s as an MI6 training centre, is today a welcoming country house hotel where sleepers wake to glorious views over Exmoor.

Blow all cares away with a welcoming glass of champagne on arrival at Andrea and Simon Copper’s sleekly designed, child-free retreat.

People get hooked on Adam Fox-Edwards’s country sports hotel close to Dartmoor, with its tackle shop in an original cock-fighting pit, ghillies for hire, and 20 miles of fishing on the Tamar and tributaries.

In ‘an amazing situation' amid 'bleak and beautiful Dartmoor', Chris Daly’s 18th-century manor house-turned-hotel is ‘truly special’ with 'lovely staff', say Guide readers.

In ‘glorious’ grounds’ Martin Barlow’s hotel, golf resort and spa on the Helford river returns to a full entry this year thanks to a trusted reader and frequent guest who loves ‘the personalised hospitality and the attention of good staff’.

With thrilling views over Lyme Bay, the Jurassic Coast and the Cobb, Kathryn Haskins's luxury hotel and restaurant is swaddled by lush cliff-top gardens.