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

'Hotel settings don't get much more spectacular than the Polurrian's, on the cliff edge overlooking its own beach,' writes a guide insider. The relaxed family and dog-friendly hotel makes the most of the coastal views.

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.

There is great food and serious fun to be had at this clifftop hotel on the South West Coast Path, its interiors filled with whimsical touches, its bedrooms all unique, its subtropical gardens a wonderland of witty sculptures.

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.

In the heart of the Gloucestershire countryside, this one-time Saxon hunting lodge, rebuilt over centuries and rich in Tudor detail, is an intimate B&B, with large and characterful bedrooms, welcoming hosts, and a Cordon Bleu dinner cooked by arrangement on Fridays and Saturdays.

You can dine in style in the Grand Ballroom or hunker down in the cosy old Pilchard inn at this extraordinary Art Deco hotel on a tidal island just a sea tractor ride from the 21st century.

A lovely, wisteria-swagged, 17th-century Bath stone inn, this is a gastropub with a wide choice of characterful rooms, a serious attitude to food, regular comedy nights and an irrepressible sense of fun.

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.

Chef-proprietors Guy and Brittany Manning have brought skills honed at triple-Michelin-starred Per Se in Midtown Manhattan to this thatched gastropub on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with 'stupendous' food in the bar/restaurant and garden, and stylish guest bedrooms across the road, with decking from which to watch the ducks on the River Avon.

'An exceptional seaside hotel', with views from the rooms and terrace to secluded Combesgate beach below, this family-friendly hotel is a former Edwardian gentleman's retreat.

A beautifully proportioned Queen Anne-style mansion overlooking a duck pond, this much-loved traditional hotel has a new owner, but, after 48 years, Baba Hine remains, overseeing restaurant, bistro and well-equipped, spacious bedrooms.

In an 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 and has a feel of the French Riviera about it.

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

Ideally situated beside Corsham Court at the heart of the village, this former coaching inn has smartly refurbished bedrooms, a friendly, casual ambience and a menu of pub classics and fancier dishes, using produce from the kitchen garden.

In a village close to Bath, one of England's oldest inns offers characterful rooms and above-average pub fare.

Not so much a restaurant with rooms as rooms with a restaurant, Sarah and Michael Alexiou’s B&B and Michael’s Mediterranean restaurant are housed in the same 18th-century Cotswold stone building, once home to a Lyons tearoom.

Built as lodgings for the now-ruined abbey, 'Britain's oldest inn', much altered over centuries and cherished by its Texan owners, has a wide choice of beautifully presented rooms and appealing dining options.

Serving cider since 1851, this honey-stone village pub has been attracting attention since a lockdown makeover by enthusiastic new owners. Contemporary-chic bedrooms have good fabrics, a Roberts radio, posh toiletries, views over gently rolling countryside.

With a youthful vibe and brimming with fun, this quirky hotel and local hangout, occupying a Georgian coach house above the harbour, has beach-shack chic bedrooms, a café, cocktail bar and curated art collection.

Steeped in romance, this Elizabethan manor-house hotel is a place of contrasts, blending history with modern amenities, from the Great Hall lounge and four-poster bedrooms, to Scandi-style wellness rooms with outdoor hot tub, a state-of-the art spa, a Michelin-starred restaurant and more informal brasserie.

In sub-tropical gardens with views over Lyme Bay, this family-run hotel offers a wide choice of accommodation, and imaginative, locally sourced food.

In wooded grounds with Dartmoor National Park on the doorstep, the Hassell family's country-house hotel and beautiful spa impresses with a warm welcome, great service, and a choice of dining venues.

You drive down a single-track road on the edge of Dartmoor National Park and cross a brook to reach this dog-friendly, very ancient, thatched and whitewashed village pub, redolent of history, serving excellent, locally sourced pub classics, with rustic-chic bedrooms and two resident ghosts.

Set on a private sandy beach, this dog friendly, Barbados-inspired hotel has a terrific mix of rooms, suites and beach cabins as well as a sea-facing restaurant and beach bar and grill.

A dog and child-friendly hotel above Chesil Beach, this Georgian manor house is dedicated to family leisure and pleasure, with plenty to keep tots and teens amused, while the restaurant serves light bites by day, bistro-style dishes at dinner.

A charming 'village within a village', this collection of honeyed buildings houses impeccably designed rooms surrounded by pretty gardens, with spring-fed outdoor pool, spa, cookery school, bar, and short, modern menus of country produce in the Ox Barn.

Hogwarts in style, this fairytale 1820s marine villa with its jumble of roofs, gables, gargoyles, towers and dormers, is set in gardens running down to a sandy beach. It delivers the usual Pig magic, with its dressed-down interiors, mismatched furniture, casual vibe, house bedrooms, shepherds' huts, thatched dovecotes, and a kitchen garden.

Everything is laid on for a fun, relaxing family escape at this dog-friendly Jacobean manor house, with a crèche, cinema, spa, pools indoors and out, playground, games room, comfy lounges, country-house bedrooms in the main house and cottages, and formal and informal dining.

The setting is pure hog heaven at this hotel, surrounded by a deer park in a fold in the Mendips. The part-Georgian building comes in the group's shabby-chic style and there's a kitchen garden with smokehouse, a wild-flower orchard, greenhouse, fruit cages and beehives, hens a-laying, and a 25-mile menu.