‘Whenever a special date crops up, we make a beeline for Gravetye and have never been disappointed.’

On a quiet side street in this photogenic town on the River Windrush, the Lamb has been receiving guests since the 1750s.

Innovative hotelier Robin Hutson turned to pig husbandry in 2011, alchemising this New Forest hunting lodge into the mother of his still-growing family of Pig hotels (see index).

Some grown men play with train sets. Gudmund Olafsson went further in 2005, when he bought one of Britain’s most beautiful railway stations, renovating the property and the four Edwardian Pullman carriages on its disused line.

‘Possibly the friendliest place I have ever stayed in,’ writes a reader in 2019, of Brendan McDonagh’s ‘exquisitely beautiful’ Tudor black-and-white B&B in a quiet Old Town cul-de-sac.

A change of both name and feel for Bingham Riverhouse this year, its ‘more traditional, opulent style’ replaced by ‘something more informal and friendly’, say our inspectors.

‘You are essentially staying in someone’s beautiful farmhouse, with an exquisite garden and delicious breakfast.’ A reader reaffirms her support this year for Sarah Burgoyne’s ‘wonderful’ B&B.

At the end of a long drive past rustic cabins, a helipad and a forest-fringed meadow, this 21st-century rebuild of a Georgian lodge is a ‘highly professional, near faultless’ modern country house hotel.

To the lighthouse! And if you have a mind to visit this unique B&B, make it quite soon. In 1999 it had to be moved from the crumbling chalk cliff edge; in around a decade it will be in peril again.

Double-moated 13th-century Hever Castle, the childhood home of ill-fated Anne Boleyn, is now home to a sumptuous B&B.

New Forest trails lead to a gingerbread Arts and Crafts house, the home and B&B of ‘perfect hosts’ Ciaran and Cheryl Maher.

Just a few minutes’ drive from RHS Wisley, Mindi McLean’s refurbished B&B in a 200-year-old listed barn is filled with little luxuries.

‘We were very well looked after,’ report readers in 2019. From on high, ‘warm, attentive’ Wendy and Neil Burrows’s farmhouse enjoys stunning sunsets over the Alkham Valley.

‘This is a chain hotel, but so kind and beautifully situated.’ A great, white Victorian edifice, the Grand is part of the small Elite Hotels group, but there is nothing elitist here.

‘We had an absolutely lovely stay.’ ‘Such a graceful house' in 'one of England's best preserved medieval towns'. Trusted Guide readers staying in 2019 joined fans in feeling ‘truly cosseted’ at this Queen Anne-style house.

Approached by a long, tree-lined drive, Daisy and Clive Hayley’s B&B is the ‘perfect weekend getaway’, an ideal base for exploring Kent's stately homes and castles.

‘Very convenient for Glyndebourne and the coast,’ ‘every need is catered for’ at Rowena and Barry Gittoes’ Grade II listed former Georgian rectory.

On a Georgian square, Louise Oldfield and Liam Nabb have restored their B&B with a careful balance of a thoroughly 21st-century make-over with a 200-year-old history.

A long drive through landscaped gardens reveals this ‘simply wonderful’ Edwardian B&B where visitors are rewarded by a sweet welcome from ‘charming host’ Amanda Lane.

Walk across Petworth Park to this 350-year-old, quintessentially English village inn, once a regular stop-over for the Household Cavalry, who would rest their horses en route to Portsmouth. .

Visitors to Fina Jurado’s genteel B&B, in a medieval market town, are in for a surprise: a string of four 13th-century cottages has been knocked through to create a ‘wonderful’ open space.

Steeped with Scandinavian cool, Mariella and William Fleming’s renovated village pub-with-rooms is a stylishly relaxed spot near the Chichester canal towpath.

A new entry to the Guide this year, the latest addition to the Pig litter (see index) is set in a Jacobean manor house just outside Canterbury. 'Any fan of the other Pigs would love this one too,’ says our inspector.