A ‘friendly’ welcome awaits at Louise and David Farrance’s ‘peaceful’ B&B, in a 15th-century farmhouse along a country lane.

Plush, lush and ‘convivial’, this luxury hotel on the edge of the ‘stunning’, rural Ribble valley is ‘an old favourite of local residents’.

In raffish Soho, this ‘stunningly original’ boutique hotel occupies three Georgian houses. ‘Friendly, efficient’ staff open the door to reveal a lavish, intriguing collection of ‘old architectural features, old furniture, old books and paintings – much to investigate and appreciate’.

With ancient foundations, this black-and-white-timbered Tudor pile, on the high street of a medieval town, has been run as an inn since at least 1564.

An ‘easy informality’ fills this ‘fun’ hotel, in an ‘unspoilt’ Cotswold village in the green Slad valley. The newest in the Calcot Hotels group, it enters the Guide thanks to inspectors who found it ‘a happy place, with attentive staff’.

White-glove service may be the norm at any luxury hotel, but even the youngest guests receive white-mitten treatment at this exceptionally family-friendly spot.

The name may mean ‘house among thistles’, but the ‘meticulously kept’ combination of manicured lawns, knotted gardens and meadow flowers tells otherwise.

‘Hurray! This is how a good hotel should be,’ crow Guide inspectors in 2016. ‘You immediately feel, as you walk in the door, that they’re keen to make you feel at home.’

‘Very much a town hotel’ (‘at teatime it was full of people taking tea; in the morning, it was heaving with coffee drinkers’), this popular spot attracts many guests who return for the ‘friendly welcome’ and the ‘pleasant, unfussy’ service.

‘Top of its class’, this ‘wonderful’, well-run country house hotel and spa beneath the South Downs wins praise from guests who appreciate the ‘beautiful’, ‘well-maintained’ grounds and the ‘intimate’, ‘relaxed’ atmosphere within.

Three’s a charm: in a trio of elegantly refurbished town houses near buzzy Smithfield Market, Peter McKay and Douglas Blain’s ‘outstanding’, ‘friendly’ small hotel has the rakish appeal of an 18th-century private gentlemen’s club.

By the remains of the medieval castle moat, this ‘excellent’, ‘welcoming’ hotel ‘would be difficult to better’, says a trusted Guide correspondent this year.

On the ramparts of Nottingham’s medieval castle, this modern, purpose-built hotel has a princely view over the whole city.

Once thought of as the most beautiful Regency house in Scotland (it was designed by Aberdeen architect Archibald Simpson), this ‘wonderful’ luxury hotel is owned and run by the Matheson family.

Soak in the ‘serenity’ and ‘romantic air’ of this ‘relaxed’ 17th-century gabled stone manor house, once home to the garden designer Rosemary Verey.

‘Intimate and informal, this characterful, family-run Georgian manor house fits the bill for quiet weekends away,’ say Guide inspectors in 2016.

There is a country house feel to Peter Candler’s ‘friendly’, ‘surprisingly peaceful’ Tudor-style mansion in a wooded valley just five minutes by car from the city centre.

On the edge of the River Stour, the smooth metal-and-glass lines of this ‘stylish’, ‘welcoming’ bankside hotel call to mind a docked ocean liner.

‘Unfussy’, ‘warm’, ‘genuine’, Neil and Zoë Kedward's stylish country hotel stands in ‘flourishing’ gardens near the coast.

A ‘very special place in a very beautiful part of the world’, this pub, hotel and restaurant is run by Dee and Richard Slade with one eye on planet Earth and another on the stars.

Hop along to this modern, budget-friendly spot – ‘just like a very upmarket hostel’ – popular with the young and young-at-heart.

The Grose family have delivered ‘first-class’ hospitality for over 120 years at their ‘very good’, family-friendly hotel, a five-minute walk from the sea.

Fall for the views, over Kenmare Bay and the Sheen waterfalls, at this much refurbished 17th-century fishing lodge (Relais & Châteaux) across the suspension bridge from the heritage town.

A minstrels’ gallery graces the entrance foyer of the Wiser family’s Grade II listed 18th-century manor house – a first glimpse of the ‘elegant historic charm’ of this ‘excellent’ small hotel.