On a tranquil side street in a picture-postcard market town on the River Windrush, this higgledy-piggledy old inn pleased Guide inspectors with its ‘classic Cotswold ambience’.

‘A comfortable, cosy place with nice rooms to curl up in’, Sam and Janet Bakose’s 250-year-old inn stands on the A272 between Midhurst and Petworth, in the South Downs national park.

Facing the ‘wide sweep of tidal mudflats’ surrounding Pagham Harbour, this whitewashed restaurant-with-rooms stands as a ‘tucked-away’ beacon of ‘delicious food’ and ‘exceptional hospitality’.

Far-reaching views across sheep-spotted countryside spool away from this ‘splendid’ 300-year-old malthouse-turned-restaurant-with-rooms above the Evenlode valley.

‘Food-focussed readers will be happy’ at this red brick Chilterns restaurant-with-rooms that offers a ‘distinctive cooking style’.

That artful couple Justin and Charlotte Salisbury have transformed a 16th-century thatched village inn (albeit one that had a helipad) into the newest Residence in their small, quirky boutique hotel chain.

‘A truly wonderful place to stay,’ writes an approving guest, who savoured the 18th-century red brick pub as much as Greyhound regulars do their pints of Titanic Plum Porter.

A ‘top-rate pub-with-rooms’, this 18th-century coaching inn (Fuller’s Hotels and Inns) near the cathedral bursts with character.

A ‘delightful, friendly place’, this ‘extraordinarily good-value’ 17th-century mellow stone coaching inn has an authentic country air.

Rebuilt and reinvented by Bassam Shlewet, this small hotel brings ‘great service’, chic style and impressive cuisine to a picturesque stretch of the Thames Path.

‘The immaculate and well-laid-out garden gave the promise of the outstanding stay to come,’ write readers this year, of a night at Simon Page and Jason King’s ‘amazing’, dog-friendly pub – an 18th-century former hunting lodge on the North Wessex Downs.

A popular pub-with-rooms in a tiny, ‘beguiling’ village close to the Thames, The Plough’s warm welcome and foodie credentials are appreciated as much by locals (and their dogs) as by guests from farther afield.

Closed down because of ill health at end of September 2018. Gerry and Ann Price ‘set the standard’ at their ‘well-run’ pub/restaurant-with-rooms, where the ‘hands-on owners’ foster a hub-of-the-village atmosphere. Closed down because of ill health at end of September 2018.

In the hilltop village that inspired JRR Tolkien’s Bree, this red brick village pub-and-restaurant-with-rooms is a logical extension to new owner Harry Aubrey-Fletcher’s farm.

Owner George Dailey revitalised this honey-stone roadside pub from a tired pub into a popular village hub.

‘Swooning views of the Windrush valley’ lead the way to this ‘informal inn’ hung with wisteria, where Guide inspectors were welcomed by 'a charming family of resident fluffy-legged bantams'.

Walk across Petworth Park to this 350-year-old, quintessentially English village inn, once a regular stopover for the Household Cavalry, who would rest their horses en route to Portsmouth. .

Guests to Dane and Sarah Allchorne’s ‘enjoyable’ pub-with-rooms may well feel like the cats that got the cream.

Chic and rustic, this ‘simply lovely’ spot, in the foothills of the South Downs, is a countryside inn through and through.

Steeped with Scandinavian cool, Mariella and William Fleming’s renovated village pub-with-rooms is a stylishly relaxed spot near the Chichester canal towpath.

Two ‘tastefully refurbished’ Regency town houses near the harbour combine into this ‘buzzy, friendly’ pub-with-rooms.

Popular with the racing fraternity and couples in search of a weekend escape, this old sheep drover’s inn is on the village outskirts, with wide views over the Berkshire Downs.

With a leafy garden overlooking the common, Robert and Sally Hogben’s nattily refurbished Georgian building is an appealing spot for an alfresco rendezvous.