‘A stylish stay in the Peak District, Wildhive’s ethos is to get back to nature without foregoing creature comforts,’ our inspector writes.

A new era begins for this Edwardian country house above Lake Windermere, in gardens that melt into the glorious landscape.

Sitting above a secluded cove on Bryher’s rugged west-facing coast, with 'nothing in between to Canada', this pretty blue-and-white weatherboarded farmhouse-turned-hotel is a '10/10 experience’, say smitten guests.

Ducks glide on a pond and guests take tea in front of this beautifully proportioned Queen Anne-style mansion in a hamlet between the Cotswolds and the Mendip hills.

‘There is a timeless elegance to Raymond Blanc’s gorgeous country house hotel, where English–French relations reach a deliciously stylish entente cordiale,’ say Guide insiders.

The yellow submarine in the 'beautiful grounds' and the hedge sculpture of a giraffe set the scene at this ‘playful, quirky hotel’, in a traditional honey-stone building.

The road peters out just past this country house hotel in ‘a wonderful location’, in a historic village on the edge of Spaunton Moor, owned and run by the Wood family for almost 70 years.

A ‘stunning Jacobean building’ is, astonishingly, largely the creation of Victorian squire, parson and prolific author the Revd Sabine Baring-Gould.

If you can't get enough of the freshest of seafood at this restaurant-with-rooms, you can learn to prepare your own lobster for grilling and the perfect hollandaise sauce at Rick Stein's cookery school across the road.

There is no isle here, no lake, no bee-loud glade, but the name of Richard and Janine Burton's lauded restaurant-with-rooms draws inspiration from W.B. Yeats’s Innisfree, a place of serenity and escape.

Overlooking the River Hodder in the Forest of Bowland, this sprawling 18th-century manor house is joyously traditional, with stone-flagged floors, open fires and bags of atmosphere.

Guide readers are unswervingly loyal to this family-friendly country house by the sea, with peerless views to Snowdonia across Cardigan Bay, run by the Fletcher-Brewer family since opening in 1948.

Overlooking the sea towards Mull, in a 'fabulous location near the harbour', this hotel on the Hebridean island of Iona has a deserved reputation for its warm welcome, fresh and creative food, and restorative peace.

High on the clifftop above St Peter Port, this town house hotel has enviable views over the harbour and neighbouring islands, sleek bedrooms and an established reputation for its food.

La Sablonnerie is currently closed. Please contact the hotel to discuss future dates. A horse-drawn carriage conveys you over a dramatic, narrow isthmus 80 metres above the sea to this 17th-century farmhouse on a tiny island with no airstrip, no tarmac road, and no cars.

Pass the little gate lodge to drive up to this bay-fronted country house in wooded grounds edged by a beach on Lough Swilly.

Centred on a Georgian farmhouse, with 26 ornamental gardens, a spa, gym, contemporary bedrooms, Michelin-starred dining-room, brasserie and kitchen garden terrace, this hotel has ‘luxury' written all over it.

Rambling roses and brimming hanging baskets adorn ‘the Carps’, a friendly local pub-with-rooms in a hamlet 25 minutes from Bath.

Everything is peachy at this apricot-hued Georgian country house in the Vale of Belvoir, at the end of a long avenue of lime trees, transformed from a family home into a delightful, idiosyncratic and much-loved hotel.

Close to Westonbirt arboretum, this Cotswold stone Fuller’s hotel in gardens and woodland, has an easy charm, a relaxing bar and drawing room, interesting bedroom choices and varied options in the restaurant.

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 experience.

Overlooking the village duck pond, a former smithy, shop and barns come together as a hotel with popular restaurant and an indoor pool.

A former hunting lodge for the Earls of Gainsborough, the latest in the upmarket Signet Collection was a work in progress when our inspector called, with ‘a spa, hairdresser’s, café and farm shop still to open’.

‘A stone’s throw from everything Oxford has to offer’, Jeremy Mogford’s second hotel (see the Old Bank) impressed our inspectors with its ‘peaceful, classy vibe’.

‘You feel as though you’re on the French Riviera’ at Olga Polizzi’s seaside hotel ‘in one of the most idyllic locations you could hope to come across’.

'One of the quirkiest, most characterful B&Bs', this five-storey, 19th-century tower mill is set ‘in an idyllic spot’, amid reed beds on the former quayside of the River Glaven.

Olde worlde charm is mixed with contemporary comforts, traditional Sunday roasts and pub classics with modern British dishes, at this Cotswold-stone inn, contrived from a row of 15th-century weavers' cottages.

Well-being is at the heart of this ‘rather lovely boutique hotel’, a reinvented 16th-century coaching inn, where guests enjoy nature walks, yoga and the run of Castle Ashby's pleasure grounds.

Deep in Thomas Hardy country, this picture-perfect thatched cottage is a popular restaurant-with-rooms run with great charm by Ariane and her husband, Jamie.

Agatha Christie memorabilia, murder-mystery weekends and Art Deco touches set the tone at this creeper-clad hotel, former home of doctor friends of Christie, in a bustling market town.

There are ‘great views of the Camel Estuary’ from this 1920s, family-friendly hotel that is 'virtually on the famous golf course’.

With an enviable position on Windermere, this Georgian hall has a relaxed country house feel, with formal and casual dining options, and bedrooms ranging from family friendly to seriously swanky.

Jeremy Mogford’s conversion of the old Barclays Bank gets credit from a Guide insider for its 'brilliant location, right in the city centre'.

The Buchanan family’s 16th-century coaching inn offers a warm Yorkshire mix of traditional pub, smart food and modern bedrooms with character.

It was nearly Howard’s end in 2015 before two local families stepped in to restore the fortunes of this 'delightful gem of a pub-with-rooms', in a village on the northern fringes of the Cotswolds.

Huddled below wooded hills, beside a stone bridge over the River Monnow, this whitewashed former 17th-century coaching inn is delightfully at ease in the landscape.

Roses festoon this family and dog-friendly 17th-century pub-with-rooms, in a thriving village close to the RSPB’s Snettisham Nature Reserve.

A sleek, modern hotel on the ramparts of what remains of medieval Nottingham Castle, Hart’s is where your home is when you want to escape the bustling city.

A through-the-looking-glass sort of place, this hotel playfully inverts the traditional country house theme, with bold interiors created for new owners the Experimental Group.

The name says it all: a place to skip along Camber Sands, enjoy backgammon in the bar, chill in the garden or relax with yoga – and with no children to disturb the peace.