Behind the golden-stone facade of two mansions, at the centre of Bath’s magnificent Georgian crescent, lies a luxurious hotel with an oasis garden.

Despite a change of ownership, this quintessential country house hotel in a peaceful Cumbrian village is still in safe hands, report readers.

Jeremy and Elizabeth Hosking’s beloved and beautiful Elizabethan manor house stands in glorious gardens, amid 1,000 acres of woodland.

The red kites that soar above the Cothi valley have a bird’s-eye view of Brechfa Forest – perfect for hiking and biking – and of this rustic 16th-century country house hotel on its margin, with the River Marlais running by.

This ‘epitome of Irish country house hospitality’ overlooks Galway Bay, in the dramatic Burren landscape, said to have been the inspiration for Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

On the doorstep of the Westonbirt Arboretum with 2,500 species of trees, and just round the corner from Highgrove, the Hare and Hounds sits in its own gardens and woodlands in a pretty corner of the Cotswolds.

Walk up a narrow lane between a kebab shop and a barber’s in this market town, on a sunny afternoon, and you may be surprised to find people enjoying tea on the lawn in front of a Palladian villa.

Tumbling down cliffs overlooking Falmouth Bay, Olga Polizzi’s glowing white Tresanton shows how to put style into a family-friendly seaside hotel – at a price.

In a ‘wonderful location’, with uninterrupted valley and fell views, this Edwardian country house is an elegant retreat for outdoors lovers who appreciate their creature comforts.

‘We felt as if we had been invited to stay with friends,’ says one reviewer of this welcoming B&B in the heart of Jane Eyre country.

There are lots of good things to report about this family-friendly spa hotel this year.

Lawns run down to the pool in sub-tropical gardens ‘which, with their climbing geraniums, are magnificent’ at this cliff-top hotel overlooking the esplanade.

The old rector was none other than the great-grandfather of Sally Searle, who, with husband Chris, welcomes guests to their loved and lived-in Victorian home.

Sandwiched between Snowdonia and the Menai estuary, this B&B in a converted granite cowshed celebrates both its Welsh heritage and its eco credentials.

Ideally situated for exploring Powis Castle or foodie Ludlow, this red brick Victorian vicarage stands back from the winding A484 in the Welsh Marches, looking over rolling pastures to the Shropshire hills.

While children let rip at sister hotel Bedruthan (previous entry), all is serene at the adults-only Scarlet, ‘perfectly located overlooking the beach and ocean’, with Ayurvedic-inspired spa and outdoor hot tubs.

On a steep hillside under St Boniface Down, this ‘thatched but imposing’ Georgian hotel is a labour of love for Danish owner Gert Bach.

Pitlochry’s renowned Festival Theatre was born in 1951 in the grounds of this Victorian mansion, run today as a welcoming hotel by Struan and Louise Lothian.

At an isolated crossroads with uninterrupted views across the border to the Scottish hills, this former coaching inn combines a wild rural feel with unexpected luxury.

Immortalised as ‘The Donnithorne Arms’ in George Eliot’s Adam Bede, this Victorian pub was boarded up before Johnny and Laura Greenall stepped in to save it.

‘Foodie heaven, with the bonus of nearby culture in Stratford-upon-Avon’, this restaurant added rooms in 2019 and is new to the Guide after an insider was bowled over by its ‘amazing value and fantastic meals’.

A ‘lovely’ walled garden gives a country house air to this small hotel in the heart of a historic market town.

‘Thoroughly dependable, yet stylish in an old-fashioned way’, this family-friendly hotel has been run with care by the Grose family for more than 120 years.

In a woodland garden that stretches to the River Dee, this historic Victorian manor is today a sumptuous hotel rich in antiques and fine original features.

Above Fistral beach, the Armstrong family’s child- and dog-friendly hotel basks in ‘spectacular views’ of the ocean and one of Cornwall’s surfing hotspots.

Mark and Claire Smith have run their well-liked South Shore B&B for a decade and a half, and their experience shows.

A tree’s length from the medieval town, the Carroll family’s listed Georgian house sits within castellated walled gardens, with views of the mountains that surround.

Facing the park, in the heart of the historic market town, this contemporary town house hotel is run with ‘energy and commitment to high standards’.

Period features, paintings and objets d‘art fill the de Savary family’s elegant B&B, in a Georgian town house in the fashionable Montpellier district.

Sheep-spotted hills stretch away from this Grade I listed manor house, which stands in tranquil seclusion in its own wooded grounds.

‘The ambience and superb staff are a feature’ of this modern hotel in the Chiltern Hills, close to a pretty stretch of the Thames Path.

By the parish church in a quiet village mentioned in the Domesday Book, this white-painted pub has been spruced up to become a contemporary country inn with well-cooked food and fresh-as-a-daisy accommodation.

In award-winning landscaped gardens that look out to sea, Arielle and David Barratt’s cliff-top Edwardian house is a five-minute stroll down the coastal path to the beach on Sandown Bay.

‘The setting could hardly be more enticing’ at this spa hotel and golf resort on a ‘magical’ part of the Helford river.

From the moment your car is valet-parked and luggage whisked to your room, you know this honeyed Cotswold manor house will deliver cosseting luxury – and star-spangled dining (Relais & Châteaux).

The very model of an olde worlde inn, with its flagstones, beams, blazing fires and jumbled interiors, The Lamb sits on the edge of a picture-perfect Cotswolds wool town, in the aptly named Sheep Street.

In a lively seaside town known equally for its medieval castle and its ice cream parlour, this ancient coaching inn is today a ‘friendly’ hotel with updated bedrooms, a stylish restaurant, and a well-preserved pub whose wonky doors, open fireplace and old photographs create much atmosphere.

Now a luxury spa hotel in a ‘magnificent’ setting, this country house was a family home when it first opened its doors to the Cowdray Park set back in 1949.

Overlooking the market place, this family-run, 16th-century hotel continues to offer the coaching-inn essentials of good food, wine and comfort.

A picture-perfect village inn, with Michelin-starred food plus indulgent bedrooms, keeps customers old and new more than happy.