Enter ‘a world of green woodland’ once frequented by Lewis Carroll as you drive through the ‘majestic grounds’ of this Italianate mansion, which surprises with striking interiors designed with 1960s pizzazz.

Nick and Charlotte Dent have had a field day converting a Georgian stone farmhouse and outbuildings in 11 acres into a dog-friendly, fun hotel brimming with character and 'so many appealing, endlessly inventive features'.

A Georgian rectory-turned-boutique hotel, in manicured gardens with swimming pool, is a first hospitality venture for music industry executive Alex Payne, who called in the team behind The Beckford Arms, Tisbury (see entry), with designer Natasha Hidvegi, a former plastic surgeon, to give the place a facelift.

Even hardened townies are seduced by the surrounds of 17th-century Barnsley House, created by visionary gardener Elizabeth Verey who moved here in the 1950s.

The collection of honeyed buildings on Caryn Hibbert's restored Cotswold manor and farm are home to chic bedrooms, a cookery school, pub and spa, interspersed with quintessential English gardens.