‘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.

There’s romance and genteel decadence to be found in these three finely refurbished Georgian houses – Peter McKay and Douglas Blain’s ‘stunningly original’ hotel.

‘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.

‘You can hear the sounds of birds all around’ this converted 14th-century farmhouse.

‘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.

‘The valley in which this inn sits seems to me one of the loveliest places on earth; from the back of the inn, the views of fells, river and parkland landscape are just about perfect. And the stillness at night is magical.’

In the otherworldly limestone landscape of the Burren, with distant views across valley and mountain to Galway Bay, husband-and-wife team Simon Haden and Frederieke McMurray run their 18th-century manor house as an ‘absolutely top-rate hotel’.

Peace and quiet surround the O’Hara family’s Georgian mansion, which stands in great expanses of woodland and pasture for sheep and red deer.

‘It’s a spectacular drive’ to this whitewashed manse in an ‘extraordinary setting’ on the west coast of Harris.

Down an avenue of lime trees stands this characterful hotel, its apricot-washed facade a welcome sight to its legions of loyal fans.

The peacocks in the ‘fantastic grounds’ are but a hint of the exotic style of local restaurateur James Thomson’s characterful hotel next to Royal Holyrood Park.

The flagstone floors, cavernous fireplaces, labyrinthine corridors and barrel-vaulted crypt bar ‘reek of history’ at this cheerfully updated medieval abbot’s lodge in a conservation village on the North Pennine moors.

Countryside chic fills this 17th-century farmhouse on a ridge above vast fields beyond the Cotswold village.

‘A place to dress up, to dream, to luxuriate’, this ‘one-of-a-kind hotel’ on a tidal island charms Guide readers with its ‘magical setting’ off the south Devon coast.

‘Comfort and homeliness’ draw guests to this 17th-century mellow-stone house in a tranquil, ‘totally unspoilt’ village in the valley of the River Nadder.

Approached up a long drive, this ‘beautifully maintained’ 18th-century country house stands in extensive grounds – ‘a delight tn the eye’.

There’s no escaping the sweep of the sea at this ‘really super hotel’ above Falmouth Bay: a wraparound deck catches the sun; French doors in the restaurant open on to terraces; nearly all the bedrooms look across the water towards St Anthony’s lighthouse.

‘Positively flourishing’, the Leslie family’s sprawling estate has remained in the hands of its founding family for nearly three and a half centuries.

Guests praise the ‘outstanding attention to detail’ at Gary and Lindsay Ashcroft’s B&B, in an 18th-century rectory at the end of a leafy drive.

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

In the buzz and hustle of trendy Clerkenwell, step back in time and enjoy a slice of Georgian London – though with air conditioning, Wi-Fi and better-than-decent bathrooms.

Overlooking the Pembrokeshire coast, Melanie and Lucas Boissevain’s chic hotel is ‘clearly on the up’.

Literary pilgrims follow narrow single-track lanes to this Victorian rectory in a ‘magical setting’ in the Valency valley, where Thomas Hardy met and courted his first wife, Emma Gifford.

A survivor from a more elegant age, this family-friendly Victorian hotel grandly stands on the seafront.