The very model of an olde worlde inn, with its flagstones, beams, blazing fires and jumbled interiors, The Lamb sits on the edge of a picture-perfect Cotswolds wool town, in the aptly named Sheep Street.

A wisteria-festooned arch frames the entry to this prettily refurbished hotel, forged from a row of 17th-century honey-hued houses.

Recently refreshed, this ‘delightful, friendly’ 17th-century coaching inn retains its authentic country air.

Built in the 1600s for a chop-house owner and chef, this gabled stone building has long opened its oak door to paying guests.

Jeremy Mogford indulges his passion for art and literature at his luxury city-centre hotel, where the walls are hung with works from his collection, with a library for residents to browse.

‘The staff were friendly and helpful, the setting on the village green was delightful – what a wonderful place to stay,’ says a trusted reviewer of this Cotswolds inn-with-rooms.

George Dailey’s honey-stone roadside inn, north of Oxford, is a popular village hub where locals come for the ‘excellent’ cooking – and where farther-flung guests settle in for ‘a very nice stay’.