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

We have readers who have been returning for more than 20 years to the Wild family’s traditional hotel ‘in a picturesque village’ once known for oyster fishing.

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).

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.

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.

Award-winning chef Kuba Winkowski marks his tenth year at Tony and Amanda Timmer’s ‘truly amazing’ restaurant-with-rooms, in a converted malthouse. Its garden overlooks the Evenlode valley.

Trusted friends of the Guide rated this boutique B&B, on the fringe of the Old Town, ‘the nicest’ they had stayed in.

‘A hidden treasure.’ On the banks of the Cuckmere river, this handsome, extensively enlarged old farmhouse is run ‘with the highest standards of hospitality'.

On the corner of the village green, a ‘lovely’ country inn which has been offering hospitality to pilgrims and travellers for centuries.

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

Flanked by two golf courses, this 18th-century coaching inn, in a quiet New Forest hamlet, is ‘a great option for a relaxed weekend away’.

Rebuilt and reinvented by Bassam Shlewet, this award-winning boutique hotel brings ‘great service’, chic style and impressive cuisine to a picturesque stretch of the Thames Path.

Between cathedral city and marina, set a little back from the main road, Lloyd van Rooyen and Gavin Wilson's smart, contemporary hotel centres on a farmhouse in a pastoral setting.

Beyond a walled terrace, an oak door leads into a 17th-century house that now finds itself at the edge of the city.

Nautical styling is spliced with New Forest hospitality at this ‘friendly’ riverside hotel, once the home of Henry Adams, master shipbuilder to Nelson.

‘From the moment the front door opened, we were made to feel most welcome.’ Guide inspectors were deeply impressed this year when visiting David and Rona Pitchford’s restaurant-with-rooms in a Georgian manor house on the outskirts of this market town.

‘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.

In a ‘little, old, cobble-stoned, grass-grown, red-roofed town, on the summit of its mildly pyramidal hill’ (as described by former Rye resident Henry James), the George presents the street front of a Georgian coaching inn.

‘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.

J M W Turner would take the steam packet down the Thames to Margate. Today Londoners can hop aboard HS2 at St Pancras mid-morning, and enjoy lunch with a sea view at Nick Conington’s 'friendly' hotel.

Above the town, a newly built hotel with a ‘distant view of sea’ across fields and houses.

Near Blenheim Palace, old-world charm and modern facilities unite at this child-friendly hotel with bags of personality in a Cotswolds market town.

At the gates of Waddesdon Manor, a half-timbered, ornately patterned Grade II listed house, originally built to accommodate the architects and craftsmen working on the manor’s construction.

‘Peaceful’ countryside views roll away from this luxurious, ‘very grand’ Victorian mansion in 66 acres of ‘spectacular’ grounds.