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

This impossibly romantic and entirely unique hotel is unlike anywhere else you will ever stay. Dress up for a black tie dinner each evening on this private island off the coast of Devon, and dance the night away in art deco style.

Stroll hand in hand around this ‘magical’ landscape of grottoes and follies, and retire to the quiet romance of this exquisite luxury hotel, exceptionally designed by Olga Polizzi.

Welcome to Wonderland. On the edge of Dartmoor national park, Fran and Pieter Hamman’s Alice-themed hotel has been styled in the manner of a 19th-century collector’s mansion.

In the former brew house, Bertie and Bryony Hancock’s sophisticated B&B is surrounded by the National Trust’s Buckland Abbey estate.

‘The food is, of course, the highlight, closely followed by the extremely comfortable room, lovely surroundings and professional, friendly service.’

‘It was not only the view that made our stay, but the whole ambience,’ writes a Guide regular this year, about this Victorian hotel and spa on the Salcombe estuary.

Pristine throughout, Brad and Gill Walker’s small hotel is a harmonious mix of spruce amenities and well-maintained original features.