You don't have to blow a fortune to stay at this relaxed yet refined hotel in some converted barns, the former home of Langham Glass, and featuring many charming nods to its heritage.

Olga Polizzi's beautifully styled Georgian fishing lodge, built for the Duke of Bedford and scandalous Duchess Georgiana, stands in a picturesque designed landscape with the River Tamar running through.

Rescued from closure by two local couples, this gastropub at the heart of a picturesque village has stylish bedrooms and cooking of a very high order.

Modern mixes with medieval on the ramparts of what remains of Nottingham Castle, with this sleek hotel the perfect place to escape the bustling city.

If you're looking for affordable luxury, this Victorian mansion in parkland, remodelled in the style of a French château, has spacious bedrooms, opulent suites, and a choice of small-plates dining or a tasting menu.

In a former smithy, shop and barns overlooking the village duck pond, this popular hotel and restaurant is undergoing refurbishment and expansion under new owners the Rockliffe Hall Group.

Behind the solid exterior of an Edwardian park-side villa lies a Scandi-chic boutique hotel and popular drop-in restaurant.

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.

On a square beside the Great Ouse in the ancient port town, this fine Georgian Grade II* listed former merchant’s house, once home to what would become Barclays, was debanked in 1869 and is today a buzzy hotel and brasserie.

Banish images of fast-food outlets and slot machines when you break your journey at Tebay on wild and woolly Shap Fell, 60 miles from the Scottish border.

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.

This Victorian gothic mansion might appear a little forbidding, but step inside and you are overwhelmed by a warm ambience and beautiful interiors, while some guests choose to sleep in the woods in a timber-lined 'hive' or treehouse.

On a Georgian square overlooking a green, this former coaching inn and popular local drop-in offers an interesting choice of bedrooms, dog-friendly dining and a mix of pub classics and modern dishes.

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.

The neon sign outside this former steward's house in a 1,000-acre deer park sets the tone for what to expect in this unique and interesting pub owned by art dealer Ivor Braka, with provocative works by artists such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst on display within.

Within a Georgian house in a trendy corner of East London once home to Huguenot silk weavers, Peter McKay and Douglas Blain set out to weave a fantasy of their own.

Birdwatchers and bon vivants beat a path to Tracy and Galton Blackiston's Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in a flint farmhouse with Blakeney nature reserve on the doorstep.

Beside the ferry landing, with views to Mull and Staffa, this family-run hotel and island social hub has smart, uncluttered bedrooms, and short menus of locally fished and farmed produce.

With peacocks in the garden, kilt-wearing staff, fire-warmed sitting rooms and antiques at every turn, this 17th-century country house is an indulgent place to stay.

It's been more than 20 years since Susannah and Stuart Macpherson opened the doors of this beautiful Georgian building to guests, and they still take great pride in providing a friendly, warm welcome along with good food and wine.

A Tudor black-and-white coaching inn once known for its medieval banquets, this gastropub has taken a leap into the 21st century with smart designer bedrooms and sophisticated cooking of local and home-grown produce.

Perfectly placed to enjoy a distillery tour or to follow the whisky trail, Sonia Marshall's Victorian house in the heart of Speyside stands in mature grounds on the edge of a swathe of the ancient Scots pine woodland that surrounds Grantown.

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.

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.

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

In deepest Constable country, Wendy and Jim Sarton's characterful timber-frame manor house specialises in residential art courses; there is a large studio in the ground for workshops from tutors in various mediums. But even if you're not interested in taking a course, it's a great place for an 'extremely relaxing weekend'.

'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.

Just four minutes by train from arty downtown St Ives, this adults-only 1930s hotel is a serene refuge from the bustle, with views over the clear waters of St Ives Bay.

Guests' happiness is paramount for host John Edward Joyce at his characterful, eclectically furnished country house with charming bedrooms and exquisite but unstuffy fine dining in the Mustard Seed restaurant.

In an enchanting village, this coaching inn retains the ambience of a friendly local, with its beamed bar and real ales. But indulgent main-house bedrooms with private patio together with Michelin-starred chef James Mackenzie's spin on classic British dishes, lift it way above the ordinary.