‘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 Michelin star is well earned’ at Tracy and Galton Blackiston’s friendly restaurant-with-rooms close to the north Norfolk coast.

A stroll from the town centre, Rick and Jill Stein’s restaurant-with-rooms – ‘a foodie destination’ – opened as a modest bistro in 1975.

‘A charming place in a charming situation’, Fiona and Paul Robinson’s ‘stylish, informal’ New England-inspired hotel soaks in the spread of Gerrans Bay.

‘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.

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’.

‘Excellent all round.’ It is more than 50 years since farmer’s wife Myrtle Allen launched the modest restaurant that would burgeon into hotel, shop, café, cookery school and event space.

Fine dining is the order of the day at Max and Susan Fischer’s Jacobean-style Edwardian mansion in the Peak District, approached by a chestnut-shaded drive.

What first smites the eye is the town’s medieval castle, formidable on its cliff-top. Steps behind it, this restaurant-with-rooms – in two adjoining 16th-century buildings restored and refurbished with contemporary flair – is no less of a surprise.

The accolades continue as Clive James and David Stott celebrate their 30th year at their well-liked restaurant-with-rooms – ‘a very special place’ – at the foot of the South Downs national park.

Long praised for the generous hospitality of its hosts, Derek and Celia Kitchingman, this ‘very quiet’ 19th-century tweed mill-turned-restaurant-with-rooms on the banks of the River Gynack is gaining attention, too, for its food.

‘High standards are upheld’ at Ariane and Jamie Jones’s ‘lovely’ restaurant-with-rooms deep in Thomas Hardy country, say returning guests in 2017.

In ‘one of the wildest and most beautiful locations’, Tanja Lister and Sonia Virechauveix run their small hotel with ‘informal warmth’.

‘The Mustard Seed, with its great tradition of Irish hospitality, is in safe hands,’ says a Guide reader this year of a return visit to John Edward Joyce’s ‘lovely, charming’ restaurant-with-rooms.

‘Frances Atkins, the chef/patron, is lovely, and the food is divine’ at this creeper-covered 18th-century coaching inn run by the Michelin-starred chef and her husband, Bill.

In a wild coastal corner of the Highlands, this white-painted Victorian house gazes out across moorland, croft and sea.

‘We needed a break from our busy day-to-day, and we got it.’

The first in the parcel of Pigs, sunning itself in the New Forest, this ‘relaxed, gorgeously rustic’ hotel remains a favourite of Guide readers.

‘Our stay was close to perfect. It was like spending a weekend at a country house where the hostess has impeccable taste and is a first-rate cook. All this at an outstandingly reasonable price, in an interesting and accessible corner of Kent.’

Coast and countryside flavour this restaurant-with-rooms between Chichester harbour and the South Downs national park – look out for shore-harvested sea buckthorn and foraged cèpes and chanterelles on the modern menus.

There are whisky and castle trails to strike out on, but begin, perhaps, with a stroll around the Matheson family’s ‘lovely’ mansion – ‘the grounds are wonderful,’ say Guide inspectors in 2017.

‘An agreeable, solidly comfortable base for exploring the area’, Sam and Janet Bakose’s updated 18th-century inn sits off the A272 in the South Downs national park.

Olga Polizzi’s countryside retreat, at its origin a Regency fishing lodge created for the Duchess of Bedford, is today an ‘unpretentious, wholly enjoyable’ hotel ‘decorated with charm and taste’.

Lee and Katie Williams run their restaurant-with-rooms in a Grade II listed Regency building close to the antique shops and historic sites in a bustling, riverside market town.