In a ‘scenic’ setting facing ‘tranquil’ marshland – ‘a joy for painters’ – the Stannard family’s ‘popular’ traditional hotel attracts all generations of regular guests, who praise the ‘remarkably high standards of service and amenities’.

Jim and Wendy Sarton’s 15th-century, timber-framed, wisteria-festooned manor house is popular with artists, who come for residential painting courses held from February to November; Dedham Vale, beloved by John Constable, invites exploration all year round.

‘The surroundings are idyllic and the food absolutely perfect’ at Tracy and Galton Blackiston’s highly regarded restaurant-with-rooms, say regular Guide readers this year.

Think out of the ordinary: in Les and Vanessa Scott’s good-natured, family-friendly hotel, find all manner of eccentricities and theatrical touches that draw admirers to this Grade II listed Palladian-style house in a pretty Norfolk town.

Comfortingly timeless and traditional, this ‘individual’ family-run hotel in a Victorian building stands across the road from the shingle beach.

In a ‘beautifully rural’ setting (‘satnav was useful’), ‘friendly’ hosts Janie and Tim Elwes have created a ‘very special’ atmosphere at their ‘lovely’, unusual Georgian inn.

The audacious interiors at this modern hotel on the north Norfolk coast nicely complement the ever-changing vista across marshes and the sea. (Afternoon tea, with retro ‘Crunchie’ teacakes, makes a nice accompaniment, too.)

‘Efficient, friendly’ staff, ‘well-appointed’ rooms and ‘splendid seafood meals’ keep guests returning to the Nye family’s ‘charming’ inn on the north Norfolk coast.

In the Dedham Vale, immortalised by artist John Constable, this ‘friendly’ restaurant-with-rooms occupies a 15th-century building restored by owner Piers Baker.

Guests this year continue to endorse Liz and Rob Cameron’s ‘conveniently located’ city-centre B&B.

‘Intimate and stylish’, this ‘informal’ restaurant-with-rooms, part of the family-run Stuart Inns group, enters the Guide on the recommendation of inspectors in 2016, who like the ‘friendly, accommodating’ spirit of the place.

Close to the beach and the RSPB reserve at Minsmere, this ‘unspoiled, unpretentious’ old inn is in an ‘atmospheric’ village.

A good base for exploring Constable country, this congenial restaurant-with-rooms is run by chef/proprietor Sherri Singleton and her husband, David McKay.

Once a 19th-century coaching inn, Anne and Richard Furbank’s ‘well-modernised’ hotel stands on the main street of a village on the Great North Road.

A ‘very well-thought-out’ revamp by designer David Bentheim has given this ‘extremely comfortable and welcoming’ 16th-century coaching inn its chic, breezy air – Suffolk by way of Nantucket and Copenhagen.

Stephanie and Richard Challinor’s restored 17th-century farmhouse B&B stands in extensive, award-winning grounds, the whole swathed by lovely countryside.

‘A delightful find.’ In Constable country, Richard Sunderland’s pub and hotel is liked for its ‘characterful’ restaurant and ‘smart, modern’ bedrooms.

‘Quirky and very individual’, Annie Rowley’s artfully styled B&B is in a Grade II listed Georgian town house mentioned in the Pevsner architectural guide to Hertfordshire.

Take an arty retreat hidden in Suffolk woodland. Simon Farr and Ann Lee, an artist and a potter, welcome B&B guests to their colourful Victorian house filled with their own eye-catching artwork.

Arrive to tea and home-made cake at Rebecca and Robert Bradley’s beautifully presented B&B. Fresh flowers brighten the bedrooms in the red-brick Victorian house; two rooms have views of the village duck pond.

Meet your sweetheart underneath the spreading horse chestnut tree that fronts this ‘thoroughly recommended’ thatch-roofed country inn.

A sweeping remodel, by Jeanne Whittome, of her Victorian villa B&B has brought welcome flights of fancy to this patch of north Norfolk.

A ‘friendly’ place, this ‘traditional, comfortable’ hotel has undergone a seamless transition under new owners Hugh and Emma Asher, assure Guide inspectors in 2016.

A free-and-easy sort of place, with ‘no bossy notes or house rules’, Clair and Iain Wilson’s ‘all-day café, store and posh B&B’ occupies the oldest house in a Georgian market town.