Here is an exemplary hotel, according to a discerning Guide Reader, ‘elegant and comfortable’, it has ‘an air of confidence’ that sets guests at ease.

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

You can order a picnic hamper and walk down to a private beach through lovely gardens at Paul and Fiona Robinson’s New England-inspired hotel, or just relax on the deck, gazing across Gerrans Bay.

‘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.

Built into a hillside on a tidal island, this sleek, white, concrete hotel has a seagoing aspect. Built in 1929 for a wealthy industrialist, it hosted the likes of Nancy Cunard, Noël Coward and Josephine Baker.

'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.’

This 'Edwardian gentleman’s residence perched at the top of a steep hillside' is run as ‘a first-class small hotel’ by 'perfect hosts' Tim and Anne Riley.

‘A super place. The real deal.’ Praise from Guide insiders for Chris and Sally Searle’s B&B, in the rectory where Thomas Hardy courted Emma Gifford.

‘Perched high on the Lizard cliffs with views out to sea and the sound of waves at night, the setting could not be more romantic.’

After a day spent exploring the shops and galleries of St Ives, guests at Malcolm Herring’s hilltop private hotel can relax on the seaward terrace with a Blue Hayes Colada and feel serenely above it all.

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.

‘They really want to give you a treat and spoil you.’ ‘A lovely and relaxing couple of days.’ Much praise this year for Charles and Edmund Inkin’s ‘buzzy’ dining pub.

‘Forget overcrowded St Ives – there’s a real treat of a stay in Penzance.’ Quirky character fills the ‘beautifully restored’ brick-and-granite former 18th-century former admiral’s house, but ‘this inviting boutique hotel is all about the hostess, Susan Stuart'.

In an unspoilt fishing village, stepped lawns are all that separates this ‘welcoming, relaxed hotel’ from the sea.

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.

Watched over by a 150-year-old lighthouse, this coastal spot inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge; his Ancient Mariner is commemorated with a statue on the harbour.

The eye-catching interior of Lyn and Jason Martin’s Grade II listed Regency B&B is bested only by the coastal views from its lofty sash windows.

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

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

‘We will stay there again soon – if I can afford it,’ wrote a reader after a first visit to this country house hotel (Relais & Châteaux) last year. Things must be going well – he's been back, to find everything ‘pretty faultless’.

‘One of our favourite hotels,’ enthuses a reader about Teresa and Kevin O’Sullivan’s quirky and luxurious cliff-top hideaway in this south Cornish seaside hamlet.

'We found seats on the attractive terrace' with 'views across St Mawes harbour to Falmouth Bay' reports a lunchtime visitor to Caroline and David Richards’s 'superb’ hotel.

‘Delightful young couple’ Miroslav Mikula and Katarzyna Kowalczyk are the ‘friendly, helpful’ managers at Nicholas and Claire Potts's Georgian house.