A slice of literary history in lively Soho, this former home of English essayist William Hazlitt creaks with authenticity.

A ‘lovely mix of quiet seaside, stunning hillside and island life’ can be found here, by Loch Linnhe, and within easy reach of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

You need to take a ferry crossing before traversing a mountain pass and a deep glen to arrive at this ‘superb country house in a remote and extraordinary setting’ with a private beach on a loch shore with mountain views.

Far-flung Torridon hosts an extreme Scottish triathlon, but there are gentler pursuits for guests at this resort hotel, a ‘baronial pile’ on a wooded estate at the head of Loch Torridon.

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.

Powder your wig and imagine you’re arriving by sedan chair at this singular hotel, occupying a Georgian terrace and presented as a piece of living history.

‘The best place to stay in Nottingham,’ is a Guide stalwart’s conclusion on Tim and Stefa Hart’s city hotel, in an award-winning noughties building on the castle ramparts.

A vast, prolific kitchen garden is the perennial glory of John and Sue Cushing’s red brick Georgian manor house in flower-filled acres amid gentle countryside.

You get the best of both worlds here: although it’s in the city suburbs just a ten-minute drive from the centre, Jesmond Dene House, named after the lush wooded valley it overlooks, ‘feels as if it’s in the country’.

With the shiny promise of a cruise ship, Robert Wilson and Tim Lloyd’s spa hotel by the River Stour is as family- and dog-friendly as you please.

A recent guest describes this modern, style-conscious and budget-friendly penthouse hotel, next to Glasgow Central Station, as a ‘great find’.

A literary past accompanies this former 16th-century coaching inn, which features as the Sow and Acorn in the novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles and in two of Thomas Hardy’s short stories.

‘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 the buzzing heart of the city, opposite the Philharmonic Hall, this contemporary hotel in a former Victorian carriage works is ‘ideally placed’ for exploring the many cultural venues in a creative neighbourhood.

The panoramic views of Saundersfoot harbour and the coastline from this modern hotel above Carmarthen Bay are ‘exceptional’ – and the inward calm that washes over guests in the award-winning spa isn’t bad, either.

‘If hotels had personalities, this one would be a cheerful extrovert.

High above the 14th-century fishing village, Andrea and Simon Copper’s sleekly designed, child-free retreat offers a stunning seascape, which stretches across Mevagissey Bay to historic Chapel Point and beyond.

Fishing boats and ferries, cruise liners and container ships form a constantly shifting waterscape in this port town, best enjoyed from the wrought iron balcony of the Milsom family’s harbourside hotel.

A long-time favourite of its royal neighbours, this Belgravia grand dame is ‘charmingly old-school’, with red-liveried footmen, Michelin-starred restaurant, and one of the largest private gardens in London.

In one of the prettiest villages in the Cotswolds, this Palladian house overlooking the Slad valley in Laurie Lee country is a soothing escape for rattled city-dwellers.

‘We had a wonderful family holiday here.

A sense of history pervades this 14th-century manor house, festooned with wisteria, which sits in landscaped grounds in a wooded valley.

Dinghies skim beneath the 150-foot terrace of Karen and David Richards’s hotel, in an enviable position overlooking the Fal estuary in a fishing village on the Roseland peninsula.

‘We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience,’ wrote trusted readers after a stay at the Watkins family’s stucco-fronted, balconied hotel overlooking the moat of the long-gone castle.