Patio doors open to the garden on a fine day at Dan Brod and Charlie Luxton’s updated stone-built inn on the edge of Wiltshire’s Fonthill Estate. The food is pub grub par excellence, from home- made game pie with a pint of Butcombe bitter, to weekend pizzas from the wood-fired oven, and suckling pig roasted over a fire in the bar. Modern country-style bedrooms have natural toiletries and vintage Welsh blankets.

From a burger in the beer garden or bar, to Michelin-starred cooking, Guy and Brittany Manning will provide at their thatched village pub. Boutique guest-house rooms have decking almost on the banks of the Avon. Better than ever, say our readers.

On the edge of the Wiltshire Downs, this quirky, affable dining pub-with-rooms stands on an organic farm, a vision of food ethics pioneer Helen Browning.

In the Harry Potter style surrounds of Lacock in Wiltshire, the Sign of the Angel is a magical 15th century inn and B&B, where dogs are welcome to stay overnight for a cost of £15. 

Handsome and historic, this buzzy pub-with-rooms has character to spare.