A Tudor black-and-white coaching inn once known for its medieval banquets, this gastropub has taken a leap into the 21st century with smart designer bedrooms and sophisticated cooking of local and home-grown produce.

A 'popular pub in a beautiful village', this 15th-century coaching inn with its old arched carriageway has been beautifully made over in casual-chic style. It was a second venture for Dan Brod and Charlie Luxton, with Matt Greenlees.

Reopened in 2024 after a £1.6 million refurbishment, this former coaching inn in a picture-perfect village is a pleasing mix of original beams, exposed stone and smart decor, with well-appointed rooms, a friendly atmosphere, and a restaurant serving pub classics alongside more inventive dishes.

Sam Mercer Nairne and his Bordeaux-born wife, Claire, have created something very special at this picturesque cottage-orné -style Georgian coaching inn on the Lansdowne's estate. The hotel, pub and anglers' dream has lovely bedrooms seamlessly blending the old and new, and French-accented, seasonal estate-to-plate menus in bar and dining room.

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.

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

'Gardez la Foi' reads the Poulett family motto over the door of this thatched village pub, and the trio behind the Beckford group (see The Beckford Arms, Tisbury) have kept absolute faith with their winning concept here. The ambience is friendly and relaxed.

In 'England's book town', under mighty Howgill Fells on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, this is just the place for a drover's platter and a pint – or Korean beef, shiso and sesame with a shot of wasabi vodka.

A formerly run-down pub at the top of the hill overlooking the harbour, this refurbished dining pub with stylish, highly characterful and generously equipped bedrooms, retains the fun and energy of a popular local, while serving seriously impressive, locally sourced food.

The Buchanan family's 16th-century coaching inn offers a warm Yorkshire mix of traditional pub, smart food and modern bedrooms with character. Overlooking the market square, it's a popular locals' spot both for the ales in the fire-warmed bar and snug and the accomplished cooking.

A first foray into pub-keeping by the Pig group and just across the road from a full-grown Pig, this old stone village local has six stylish bedrooms under the eaves, cosy spaces for eating and drinking, and a menu of hearty, traditional pub fare with the odd more modern dish.

The propeller behind the chrome counter gives you an indication of what to expect in this quirky, buzzy bar and restaurant with rooms in one of Burnham Market's Georgian buildings. Bedrooms, in a residents' garden, are spacious, light, and carefully styled.

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.

Do you remember an inn, Miranda? Hilaire Belloc certainly remembered this Georgian coaching inn, from which he described setting out in The Four Men.

With smartl 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.

The ancient stone-built Bath Arms in woodlands on the Longleat estate gets a big thumbs up from readers for its 'excellent, attentive and pleasant staff', 'appealing menus', real ales and great-value, well-decorated rooms.

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.

A lovely, wisteria-swagged, 17th-century Bath stone inn, this is a gastropub with a wide choice of characterful rooms, a serious attitude to food, regular comedy nights and an irrepressible sense of fun.

The catch of the day could be Shetland hake in the restaurant or nifty fielding on the sands at this pub-with-rooms overlooking the Firth of Forth, with its own beach cricket team.

The red-and-white candy-striped parasols outside this wisteria-swagged foodie pub with beautifully styles rooms send an irresistible message: come in, it’s fun.

A fourth venture for Justin and Charlotte Salisbury, this 16th-century beamed farmhouse-cum-local, a former haunt of Dylan Thomas's, has a range of highly individual rooms, mostly in outbuilding with outdoor seating, as well as larky modern art, upcycled, recycled and vintage furniture, a restaurant and bar serving pub food with a difference.

In a hamlet just 25 minutes from Bath, 'the Carps' is a 'very nice country pub' offering 'very good' food, and oodles of atmosphere in the stone-walled, beamed bar, with fire and log-burner.

In a market town between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, this pub with rooms deftly mixes historic charm – beams, crackling fires and exposed stonework – with an updated, modern touch.

This Tudor coaching inn in a picturesque village at the heart of Dedham Vale, now part of the Chestnut Group, blends historic features with modern comforts, while a changing menu of inventive dishes is served in the dining room and landscaped garden.