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.

With its towers and battlements this Victorian-folly castle, in 15 acres of grounds, looks imposing yet 'you actually feel like it is your castle'.

To find a gem in a quiet corner of the visitor-thronged Lake District is not easy, but this smart village inn in the lovely Lyth valley offers 'top-notch food', 'great service' and country-style bedrooms.

In 'the most idyllic location', cascading down the cliffs at St Mawes with views to St Anthony's lighthouse, Olga Polizzi's seaside hotel continues to delight readers. Once home to a yacht club, it is spread across a cluster of houses.

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.

Named in honour of Shrewsbury's famous son, this Grade II* listed Sandford House, moments from the Severn towpath, has evolved into a B&B full of Darwin references, with animal and plant wallpapers, maps and natural history objets.

A Regency beauty with spectacular views from the balconies, this stylish, dog-friendly country house hotel has a relaxed vibe, beautifully designed bedrooms, and a fine-dining restaurant.

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.

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.

A whitewashed cottage on a steep woodland pass may seem an unlikely setting for Michelin-starred dining, but this restaurant-with-rooms charms both the eye and the palate.

Occupying a Georgian house and new annexe wings with private shorefront on Ullswater, this is an entirely child-friendly, dog-friendly 'lifestyle' hotel for those who love the great outdoors.

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.

Country-house luxury abounds at this child-friendly, dog-friendly hotel, a Georgian mansion, its ‘well-maintained gardens a huge joy to visit’.

Big picture windows frame views of the Dart at this cool, contemporary hotel with a leisure vibe, uncluttered chic bedrooms, relaxed gourmet dining in the riverside restaurant and alfresco.

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.

Much loved by readers, this hotel, restaurant and social hub beside the Great Ouse is justly as popular as ever under its new owners.

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

It was nearly Howard's end in 2015 before two local families stepped in to restore the fortunes of this traditional village pub, which 'makes a great base for exploring the Cotswolds' with its 'upmarket pub food, good service and excellent breakfasts'.

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.

There is a ‘wonderful peaceful and calm feeling’ about this boutique hotel in a Victorian gothic gentleman’s residence close to Windermere’s town centre with a bus stop right outside and 'first-class service'.

From bread to truffles, they cook as much as possible on site in this 'very cosy and friendly hotel' in the rolling South Hams countryside between wild Dartmoor and the sandy beaches of Bigbury Bay.

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.

Amid rolling hills, where Shropshire nudges Herefordshire, Pippa and Willem Vlok's restaurant-with-rooms comprises a picturesque set piece of medieval and Georgian farm buildings.

A 'laid-back, fire-in-the hearth, village pub atmosphere' prevails at this charming thatched gastropub with riverside guesthouse on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

East Coast America meets South Coast England at this single-storey, coastal-chic hotel with interesting room choices, good, locally sourced food, and uncrowded sandy beach just over the spectacular dunes.

An Edwardian homage to 17th-century style, this beautiful manor house with rich Jacobean-inspired interiors is run as a luxury hotel with fine-dining restaurant where you can enjoy a 'truly memorable meal'.