The view is one of marshes and moored boats, of creeks and children crabbing, from Emma Stannard’s well-established, family-friendly hotel on the quayside of a coastal village.

‘There’s lots of room to play and run around’ at this ‘pretty, rambling manor house’ in ‘fantastic grounds’ on the edge of the Cotswolds.

Hardly hellish, Robert Dorrien-Smith’s island hotel, perky in a protected cove in the Atlantic Ocean, is ‘well worth the trip’.

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

Approached via quiet lanes bordered by hedgerows and dark-limbed trees, Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s Victorian hunting lodge-turned-country house hotel stands in extensive grounds stretching to a lake on the River Irfon.

A short stroll from the beach, this ‘top-of-the-class’, ‘exceptionally family-friendly’ hotel is ‘in a great cliff-top location’ overlooking the sea.

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

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

The day is one long round of pleasure at this ‘luxurious but unstuffy’ Edwardian country house beneath the South Downs, where classic lawn sports and garden games make jolly the ‘gorgeous, well-maintained’ grounds.

Just the ticket for ‘young children and their exhausted parents’, this Georgian manor house stands in ‘beautiful, romantic’ countryside. It has a ‘friendly, relaxed’ atmosphere that’s ‘really geared for kids’.

Close to heritage coast and sandy cove, this ‘delightful old mansion’, the Victorian pile that inspired Kenneth Grahame’s Toad Hall, is packed with ‘first-rate facilities’ for young and old.

‘Splendid afternoon teas’ are part of the ‘olde-worlde charm’ at this ‘absolutely wonderful hotel’ overlooking the esplanade and the English Channel.

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

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

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.

Romance is in the air, along with the birdsong of robins, nuthatches and chaffinches, at this golden-hued manor house in a pretty Cotswold village.

‘Crumbly scones’ make this chic, river-facing hotel ‘probably the best tea place in town’, but there’s much more for its fans to enjoy: ‘A lovely setting, good food and well-appointed accommodation’.

‘Stylish and modern’, Robert Wilson and Tim Lloyd’s ‘welcoming’ hotel gleams on the banks of the River Stour, shipshape inside and out.

‘Chris and Jenny Mullen’s commitment to guests’ comfort and enjoyment is hard to match’ at this personable, family-friendly B&B on the Mourne Coastal Route.

‘It’s a pleasure to stay here.’ In a ‘beautiful location with stunning views of Hay Tor and Dartmoor’, the Hassell family’s ‘delightful’ hotel has ‘a lot going for it’: ‘friendly, helpful and efficient staff’; ‘good-quality food’; the ‘quiet surroundings’.

Clean, contemporary design, eco credentials and ‘wonderful views’ attract guests to this voguish, adults-only hotel overlooking ‘a classic Cornish bay’.

Think of anything you might want from a luxury hotel – ‘friendly, professional staff’, ‘well-appointed bedrooms’, ‘delightful’ public spaces, a ‘memorable’ breakfast with peerless granola.

‘The shabby-chic style suits the relaxed atmosphere’ at this ‘fresh, appealing’ candidate, one of Robin Hutson’s sty of Pig hotels.

Horses and coaches once trundled up the tree-lined avenue to this former stables in Yorkshire countryside; today, James Allison’s ‘low-key, relaxing’ hotel attracts a rather smarter set.