A 17th-century coaching inn on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park combines all the best of a larky hotel with themed bedrooms, friendly bar, good service, fine wines and long menus especially strong on fish.

They have all their ducks in a row at this wisteria-decked gastropub-with-rooms overlooking the green in a village where mallards glide on old abbey fishponds.

This Victorian gothic mansion might appear a little forbidding, but step inside and you are overwhelmed by a warm ambience and beautiful interiors, while some guests choose to sleep out in the woods in a timber-lined 'hive' or tree house.

Away from the crowds but close to good walking in the Ribble valley, this traditional coaching inn, refurbished in style, is both friendly village local and foodie hotspot, with impressive and glamorous bedrooms, onsite microbrewery, fine-dining and tasting-menus in the restaurant, pub classics and light bites at lunch.

With peacocks in the garden, kilt-wearing staff, fire-warmed sitting rooms and antiques at every turn, this 17th-century country house is an indulgent experience.

Refreshingly different from some more traditional Lake District offerings, this contemporary hotel is in a beautiful setting overlooking Grasmere.

This gastropub-with-rooms is set in a beguilingly pretty 17th-century Bath stone inn with mullioned windows and cascading wisteria, and lovely gardens outside.

Every painting, sculpture and piece of furniture feels cherished and chosen at John Edward Joyce's Victorian country mansion in landscaped gardens.

Beyond the Doric portico of a white stucco neo-classical mansion, this boutique hotel captures the eclectic charms of glamorous and bohemian Notting Hill.

Country-house luxury abounds at this child-friendly, dog-friendly hotel, a Georgian mansion, its ‘well-maintained gardens a huge joy to visit’.

In a 'beautiful location on the shore' of Loch Sunart where otters swim in the waters and red squirrels scamper around the land, this 18th-century lodge offers country-house comforts and plenty of Scottish flair, ranging from tartan fabrics to home-made shortbread.

Rescued from closure by two local couples, this gastropub at the heart of a picturesque village, has stylish bedrooms and cooking of a very high order.

Within a medieval castle and Georgian house above the Sound of Mull, this remote restaurant with rooms has four fantastic suites, spectacular views, and no less memorable cooking by chef-proprietor Colin

Olga Polizzi's beautifully styled Georgian fishing lodge, built for the Duke of Bedford and scandalous Duchess Georgiana, stands in a picturesque designed landscape with the River Tamar running through.

'A really nice place to stay, in a lovely quiet village setting,' this beautifully renovated 17th-century thatched inn lives anew as a local pub with rooms. Manager Claire Lenkowiec and chef Valerio Grimaldi-Plant run the show for the owners and, by George, they get it right!

Solitary Nephin, Ireland's highest stand-alone mountain, provides a dramatic backdrop to this classic, pink-washed Georgian country house in wooded grounds on Lough Conn.

Thomas Hardy fans will be in their element at this local watering hole in Dorset, which was the model for 'The Sow and Acorn' in Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

Hidden in a back street of Padstow's old town, these sybaritic B&B suites, created by chef Paul Ainsworth and his wife, are an ideal retreat for foodies.

'It is hard to better this small country house hotel,' write readers of Angus and Jane Fordyce's Georgian mansion, set in open countryside close to the dunes and salt marshes of the Solway coast.

Modern mixes with medieval on the ramparts of what remains of Nottingham Castle, with this sleek hotel the perfect place to escape the bustling city.

At the heart of the South Downs National Park, this village pub with rooms is the rural sister of the seaside Crab & Lobster, Sidlesham (see entry). It is country but no bumpkin.

A Regency beauty with spectacular views from the balconies, this stylish, dog-friendly country house hotel has a relaxed vibe, beautifully designed bedrooms, and a fine-dining restaurant.

Steeped in history and dating in parts from Norman times, this extraordinary hotel has antique-filled bedrooms, an oasis rear garden bounded by the city wall, and a fine-dining restaurant.

Eat inside or dine alfresco under a striped parasol, at this exceptional gastropub with super-stylish rooms, some for a family, some dog friendly with access to the garden.

There's a romantic air to the setting of this Scottish baronial mansion overlooking Loch Oich with the ruins of Invergarry Castle in the grounds.

With smartly refurbished interiors and imaginative, locally sourced, restaurant-quality food, this dog-friendly country inn on the Lowther Estate is a happy mix of pub informality and country-house comforts.