‘Nothing compares to this special place,’ says a Guide reader in 2017 after a return visit to the Cunliffe family’s glamorous country house hotel.

‘We felt we were staying at a grand house rather than a hotel,’ say regular Guide correspondents this year of Charles Lowther and his family'’s Grade I listed ancestral home, built around a medieval pele tower and brimming with the owners’ personality.

‘Helpful, charming, welcoming staff’ make a stay at this ‘beautiful’ 19th-century stone-and-slate country house a ‘relaxing experience’.

In a Knights Templar village with a backdrop of imposing Cross Fell mountain, a Georgian mansion and converted coach house are home to a personable small hotel.

‘A quintessential country house hotel.’ The Quinion family’s creeper-covered manor house in mature grounds ‘combines the familiar features and decor of an earlier age with exceptional service’, writes a Guide reader, a frequent guest, in 2017.

‘Peace and quiet’ surround Hazel Thompson’s Lake District B&B in the Vale of Lorton.

‘It’s a home away from home,’ chorus fans in 2017 of the Bennett family’s ‘stunning, well-preserved’ 19th-century pile striking a pose in rambling grounds in the Eden valley.

Sue and Peter Robinson’s Arts and Crafts house stands on a crag in ancient woodland, the views tumbling down the Brathay valley.

There’s a ‘homely atmosphere’ and ‘a sense of cosy welcome’ at this unpretentious, gabled Edwardian country house overlooking Lake Windermere and Coniston Fells.

The views are ‘stunning’ from this privately owned, ivy-clad Victorian hunting lodge standing in large grounds above Lake Windermere, the panorama of fells stretching wide.

There are open fires here, and views of Skiddaw; the traditional chintz and prints are ‘part of the charm’, says a devotee in 2017.

Let the hillside setting and leafy copses around this Victorian country house capture the imagination – they inspired Beatrice Potter to pen the adventures of her many woodland creatures.

A lively spot, this family-friendly hotel on the banks of the River Leven stands in sweeping gardens, and has a cheery mix of colours and prints inside.