With smartly refurbished 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.

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

Leave the fuss and fret of the AI(M) at Scotch Corner to reconnect with the land at this idyllic hotel, centred on a Georgian coach house amid gardens, parkland and woodland.

For 40 years, Raymond Blanc has held two Michelin stars at this beautiful country-house hotel 'and it's not surprising – every mouthful of every meal is a triumph', say Guide insiders.

High on the cliff top above Chesil Beach, this is an effortlessly hip, relaxed, fun hotel with a Cape Cod vibe, light and airy bedrooms, a bar serving cocktails and brilliant snacks, with seriously good cooking in the restaurant.

Behind the solid exterior of an Edwardian park-side villa lies a Scandi-chic boutique hotel and popular drop-in restaurant.

'In the middle of nowhere down narrow country lanes', John and Sue Cushing's Georgian manor house hotel sits among five acres of brimming gardens, a prolific source of fruit and vegetables, cut flowers and perennial joy.

This gastropub-with-rooms is set in a beguilingly pretty 17th-century Bath stone inn with mullioned windows and cascading wisteria, and lovely gardens outside.

Lakeland luxury at its finest comes courtesy of Gilpin, with its Michelin-starred dining, private hot tubs in the majority of its indulgent rooms and attentive staff. Its flagship rooms are extravagantly large glass-cube spa suites that extend over a pond and offer private garden, spa room and circular bath.

The humble setting of this former coaching inn, half a mile from the Scottish border, belies its chic bedrooms and creative cooking.

This modest Georgian house, built for the Earl and Countess of Poulett, has been much extended since Jane Austen visited and fell in love with Lyme.

'The location is stunning, with views of the Devon coast with its sandy beaches and tumbled rocks,' writes a reader delighted by this family-friendly hotel.

Agatha Christie memorabilia, murder-mystery weekends and Art Deco touches set the tone at Hugh and Emma Asher's creeper-clad hotel, former home of the author's doctor friends, in a bustling market town.

A New Forest bolt-hole, this country house hotel has an easy glamour, romantic and family-friendly rooms, heart-warming Italian food and top-notch spa.

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 16th-century village inn has been reinvented as a fun, bohemian hangout, with rustic-chic bedrooms, upcycled furniture, modern artworks, good pub grub and an irrepressible sense of fun.

Rising phoenix-like from the ashes of a conflagration, Andrew Pern's thatched village gastropub retains its joyful eccentricity, with quirky, rustic bedrooms in converted farm buildings, while Mr Pern's modern Yorkshire cooking has lost none of its spark.

A Saxon royal hunting lodge in the Gloucestershire countryside, rebuilt over centuries, is run today as a private hotel by 'lovely hosts' Christopher Trim and Kathryn Warner.

'Our favourite hotel in the whole wide world,' writes a devotee of this seafront grande dame, run by the same family for 104 years.

This beautifully proportioned Queen Anne-style mansion, in a hamlet between the Cotswolds and the Mendip hills, is as traditional as its owner, Baba Hine, who has been at the helm for more than 46 years.

You can paddleboard on the river, stroll to see the deer in Richmond Park, and feel a world away from central London at this smart, multifaceted Thames-side hotel.