For Victor Hugo in exile, Guernsey was his ‘rock of hospitality and freedom’. Guests today feel much the same way about La Frégate.

There’s a friendly atmosphere at this white-painted, flower-fronted Georgian mansion which has been run by the Chambers family for more than 50 years.

Run with ‘a personal touch’, this ‘luxurious’, family-friendly hotel (Relais & Châteaux), in an extended 14th-century Norman manor house, has been owned by three generations of the Lewis family.

‘Charming and elegant’, the Seymour family’s newly refurbished hotel in a ‘lovely rural spot’ earns a place in the Guide thanks to trusted readers who enjoyed a ‘faultless’ stay in 2016.

The Wheadon family’s handsomely restored, extended manor house (Small Luxury Hotels of the World) stands in lush walled gardens above Moulin Huet Bay, a tranquil spot much favoured by Renoir in his Guernsey paintings.

The vista from this refined hotel (part of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection) stretches all the way over the town to the neighbouring islands of Herm and Sark – ask for a room with a sea view, and don’t forget the binoculars.

Stroll along the seafront to reach the village of St Aubin, from the well-maintained gardens of this extended Georgian manor house.