'In its glory, in the very beautiful Otter valley', this Elizabethan manor house is the fifth member of Robin Hutson’s Pig family.

Perfect peace reigns at this friendly hotel in at the end of a quarter-mile drive, in a densely wooded river valley at the western edge of Exmoor national park.

A ‘time capsule of ancient England’, Sue Burdge’s venerable former dwelling house has been the village pub and hub since 1837.

A consortium headed by Office Space in Town has just acquired hotel space in Devon. This gleaming white Art Deco hotel on a tidal island, sold by its former owners after 17 years, is undergoing a multi-million-pound make-over,

‘It’s clear why so many guests return again and again.’ Huw Rees and Sam Prosser’s converted Georgian rectory, in large, well-maintained grounds, ‘is a haven of rural peace within easy reach of Exmoor and the sea’.

‘Old-fashioned in style and lovely for it.’ Returning guests this year were pleased to discover that Peter Wharton’s ‘splendid’ hotel overlooking Lyme Bay ‘sails gracefully on, without feeling the need to change things for the sake of change’.

A trug of sparkling wine, organic home-made fudge, fresh fruit and flowers awaits guests at the ‘lovely’ Maureen Rowlatt’s rather special B&B by a stream, in a private valley on the edge of Dartmoor.

‘As superb and lovely as ever,’ Martyn Scarterfield and Petra Lampe’s Edwardian holiday cottage turned guest house is ‘a home-away-from-home’ for many devoted returning visitors.

A Regency cottage-orné, built by Jeffry Wyatville as a fishing lodge for Georgiana, Duchess of Bedford, is run today in characteristic relaxed-chic style by Olga Polizzi (see also Tresanton, St Mawes).

In the rolling South Hams countryside, Richard Hendey’s Georgian rectory turned small hotel is ‘a delightful place to stay, peaceful and friendly’. Interiors are smart and contemporary.

On the edge of Dartmoor National Park, with views to granite Haytor, the Hassell family’s hotel is ‘a little off the beaten tracks – but worth finding’.

In an ‘absolutely beautiful position’ overlooking Start Bay, Rachael and Nigel Heath’s 19th-century village fisherman’s inn is ‘a relaxing place to stay’, writes a trusted reader this year.

‘Beautifully located’ on the South West Coastal Path, this former Edwardian gentleman’s retreat has clifftop views of the three-mile-long beach.

Deep in the Taw valley, Jean-Pierre Mifsud’s wisteria-hung 18th-century manor house is a characterful ‘high standard’ hideaway, surrounded by orchards and woodlands.

The Far East meets the South West at Stuart Litster and Kevin Hooper’s inviting B&B in a South Hams coastal village.

‘Full of surprises:, curiosities and vintage pieces burst through Fran and Pieter Hamman’s 19th-century manor house on the edge of Dartmoor national park.

In the former brew house, Bertie and Bryony Hancock’s sophisticated B&B is surrounded by the National Trust’s Buckland Abbey estate.

‘No wonder Adam has such a loyal clientele,’ wrote a regular Guide reader after this year’s visit to the country sports hotel, a mere fly cast from Dartmoor.

‘We did 14 miles over the moor today and are now pleasantly weary. It is a great place, very sad and wild,’ reads a letter – not from a Guide reader, but from Arthur Conan Doyle, said to have been inspired to write The Hound of the Baskervilles while staying at this 18th-century manor house.

In a peaceful valley, Richard Johnston’s quirky B&B is ‘a blend of rural escape and aristocratic eccentricity’.

It was all go at this whitewashed, 14th-century former cider house in Britain’s longest village, when a trusted reader arrived at 1 pm.

The tramway that once carried Dartmoor granite from the Stover Canal is no more, but this granite inn, built in 1820 along with quarry workers’ cottages, still thrives.

Michael Caines’s ‘beautifully restored’ Georgian manor house stands in parkland beside the luminous Exe estuary.