Generations of families have visited this easy-going hotel five minutes from the beach. Today, it’s as family-friendly as ever, with play areas and games room, tennis, putting green and indoor pool. Most rooms have space for an extra bed, and there’s a child-listening service so adults can relax in the evenings.

Lure them there with promises of a visit to the nearby theme park, Alton Towers. They won’t want to leave when they see the retreats scattered around beautiful grounds, perfect for letting off steam, some with outside baths for four. There’s an outside pool, indoor games room and kids’ menu.

Its quayside location makes this hotel perfect for seal-watching trips, as well as for crabbing, fishing, water sports and beach expeditions. Back at base, enjoy the indoor pool together before adults take a well-earned rest and admire the estuary views while kids hit the games room.

You can feel the playful, relaxed air as soon as you arrive at this Georgian mansion, with its topiary animal sculptures outside, and slightly mad decor within. The outdoor pool is open year round, there’s a complimentary pantry to raid, and kids stay free in the holidays.

You can only stay in the pig arks and bell tents in the summer, but all year there’s a family-friendly vibe here with a soccer pitch, tennis court, cycling and fishing. Kids can tuck into high tea, leaving parents to savour a four-course tasting menu and to try Ballyvolane’s gin, Bertha’s Revenge.

The whole family can enjoy this Victorian folly of a castle, where the most relaxed of atmospheres prevails amid the ornate-ceilinged rooms with wood panelling. There are 15 acres of grounds to explore, interconnecting and family rooms, and food everyone can enjoy together.

With everything from a crèche to a cinema, Calcot is family heaven. Get the kids exploring some of the 240 acres on bikes, or sign them up for disc golf and tennis. Follow it up with family splash time in the spa pool, and eat together in the country inn or gourmet restaurant.

Take the kids back to a holiday from yesteryear, starting with the ferry ride to this island hotel. Hire bikes and explore the island, stopping at white-sand beaches to spot dolphins and seals. Back at base, there’s a kids’ menu and a relaxed atmosphere in the bar and restaurant.

There’s something for everyone at this baroque Victorian mansion overlooking the Fowey estuary, with a crèche, cinema, library, den, spa, indoor pool and Wind in the Willows-inspired outdoor play area. The flexible dining showcases the best of Cornish cuisine, and a sandy cove is a short walk away.

Get bacon bait from the kitchen and go crabbing at the gorgeous beach which shares this hotel’s name. When you’re done with sand and sea, there’s a pool back at the Makepeace family’s hotel, as well as tennis, snooker and board games.

While there isn’t a kids’ club, there’s plenty at Headlam to keep the youngsters busy, with gardens to explore, family-friendly slots in the pool, and both tennis and golf. Early tea and an informal atmosphere complete the picture.

You only need glance at the all-day menu, with its fish platters for adults, fish fingers for kids, to see that Trefeddian caters for all generations. Play tennis or golf, go swimming, sailing or pony trekking, or hit the nearby beach.

When you’ve been rowing on the lake near the ruins of a Knights Templar castle and explored the acres of woodland around the Perceval family mansion, kids’ supper is served in the kitchen while adults eat communally in the dining room.

Towers and battlements are part of the fun at this Victorian folly of a castle, where no one bats an eyelid if the tinies scatter their toys round the elegant drawing room. Everything from baby monitors to dressing-up clothes is on hand.

Forget the fancy kids’ club and full-on facilities – this Norfolk pub is more about its family-friendly attitude. There’s a play area in the garden, a kids’ menu, a miniature steam railway at Norton Hill next door, and beaches nearby.

This grand Italianate mansion decorated with 1960s pizzazz comes with wellies for woodland walks, family swimming time in the spa’s two pools, and rooms for all sizes of families. Some rooms have interconnecting doors for up to seven.

Quirky decor and a laid-back atmosphere reign in this refined Jacobean mansion. There’s a spa for adults and free childcare for kids, both family and formal dining, and ducks, pigs, chickens and a rabbit to pet in the extensive grounds.

It’s family holiday heaven in this elegant but relaxed hotel, with everything from a crèche and cinema to a pool and playground. Add to that Cornish cuisine, a spa and a sandy cove nearby and you’ll see why guests are as happy as clams.

This sister hotel to the nearby adults-only Scarlet goes all out for families, with dawn- to-dusk activities. Take them surfing on the beach or enjoy a family spa session. You’ll find all the clobber you need for young children, too.

A favourite for multi-generational families, and five minutes from the beach, Trefeddian has oodles of space for all ages. After time in the pool or in the indoor or outdoor play area, there’s early supper or kids’ menus at family meals.

It’s no surprise that parents who visited this coastal hotel as children return with their own families: it has everything from high chairs and cots to a games room and outdoor pool. It’s gloriously relaxed, with different dining options.

It’s a home rather than a hotel, say owners Jenny and Justin Green, and a very family-friendly one at that. You can expect trampolines and a tree house, animals to feed, eggs to collect, bikes to ride and games galore. There are glamping tents in summer.

If staying in a Victorian folly of a castle isn’t enough of a treat for the kids, there’s a games room, cinema and tennis court at Augill. It’s antique-filled but relaxed, with some seriously romantic bedrooms for the grown-ups.

An unstuffy atmosphere reigns in this Jacobean manor with crèche, where little ones can go egg collecting or pond-dipping while adults enjoy the spa. Kids can tuck into high tea before being tucked up, and there’s fine dining for grown-ups.

It’s not just about the kids at this play-and- stay option, which has set splash times in the pool, so adults get some quiet time. On hand is everything from a crèche to a cinema, plus more baby gear than some people have at home.

It feels like a family holiday from yesteryear at this easy-going island hotel, reached by ferry. There are beaches to comb, seals to spot and bikes to hire. Families and locals mingle in the bar and the restaurant has children’s menus.

Take a hotel on Chesil Beach with fossils and smugglers’ tales galore, add a huge indoor play area with traversing wall and soft play area, a spa with indoor pools, plus an Ofsted crèche, and you’ve got the recipe for a happy family holiday.

A great place for three-generation family holidays; adults are cosseted by immaculate service and comfort, while children are kept busy with lovely Carne beach, swimming pools, tennis and family painting sessions with a resident artist.

Generations of families have enjoyed the view across Cardigan Bay from this popular hotel that’s just a five-minute dash from the beach. But first you have to tear yourself away from the games room, indoor pool, putting green and tennis court.

Even north Norfolk’s glorious beaches have their drizzly days, and families will find happy refuge here in the games room (pool, table tennis, darts) and indoor pool. Children’s lunch and tea is served, as well as half portions from the adult menu.

One of the first country house hotels to welcome families, this mellow Wiltshire manor continues to delight all ages. Extensive grounds contain a grass maze and play garden with tractor; indoors, there’s a crèche, games room, pool and spa.

This converted Cotswold farmhouse has just the right level of sophistication to make it feel special, offset by an unstuffy atmosphere, a superb spa, crèches and children’s clubs for under- and over-eights and bikes for cycling round the grounds.

Children love the adventure of a ferry ride to an island. Here there are bikes to hire, dolphins and seals to spot and white-sand beaches – as well as the purest of air. Not to mention board games, a kid’s menu and a laid-back vibe.

Set in 18 acres near the unspoilt Slieve Bloom mountains, this is a wonderfully relaxed and relaxing family home. Cots, kid’s supper and child beds are offered, with babysitting on request – though it’s worth staying in for Paddy Flynn’s superb dinners.

‘I’m bored’ is just not an option at this friendly hotel on the Dorset coast. A huge indoor games room, swimming pools for all ages, a skittle alley and fossil hunts are on tap; an Ofsted crèche, high tea and baby listening give parents a break.

Now here is the real thing, an Elizabethan stone house within star-shaped fortress walls. Tim the boatman offers sea trips. You can swim in the indoor pool, play tennis, go horse riding, hire an electric Scilly Cart or take afternoon tea on the ramparts.

The relaxed, welcoming atmosphere at this Georgian country house on a working farm makes everyone feel instantly at home. Young guests have woods to explore, a tree house to discover, animals to feed, new-laid eggs to collect.

Children thrill to stay in this fantasy castle with its free-and-easy ethos. Books and games, a cinema, flexible meal times, tennis, a playground and ‘Little Cooks’ school add up to a recipe for a happy holiday.

From bangers and mash and knickerbocker glory, to a walled garden with climbing frame, early suppers, high chairs, cots, crayons and colouring books, children are more than merely tolerated at this fun 14th-century pub.

It’s one long round of pleasure for kids at this Jersey manor-house hotel, with nature trails and treasure hunts, cookery classes and tennis lessons, beaches and pool. Babysitting and baby listening allow carefree evening dining.

Family rooms, all-weather play facilities, beaches for fossil hunts, a crèche, babysitters, a baby pool, flexible meal options, treatment rooms and adult-only dining keep all generations in clover at this country manor house close to Chesil Beach.

‘There’s Toad Hall…’ said the Rat, ‘…one of the nicest houses in these parts.’ Nice, indeed. And with so much laid on for kids at this manor house (said to have been Kenneth Graham’s model for Toad Hall), parents can truly relax.

Wellies of all sizes await outdoor types at this Scottish baronial castle on the Ayrshire coast. Take a boat trip with a picnic to see seabirds on Ailsa Craig, roam woodlands, go mountain biking, play tennis, quoits, giant pick-up-sticks.

A fairy trail beguiles little ones at this Georgian mansion in gardens and woodland. With boules, croquet, bike rides, an Iron Age settlement and sandy beaches, you’ll never hear ‘I’m bored!’ Family suites and early supper are available.