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.

Ship-owner Allan Hughes chose the perfect site for this handsome Lutyens-style Edwardian country house, on high ground, with panoramic views across Exmoor to the coast, the approach awash with daffodils in springtime.

Anne Boleyn's childhood home, reimagined by William Waldorf Astor as a fairytale moated castle, the seat of a Tudor courtier, stands in landscaped grounds with an Edwardian 'Tudor' village, home to this exceptional B&B.

With beams, cottage-style bedrooms and beautiful gardens running down to the River Stour, this 16th-century Cotswold manor house in pretty South Warwickshire countryside not far from Stratford upon Avon makes a charming B&B.

There's a romantic air to the setting of this Scottish baronial mansion overlooking Loch Oich with the ruins of Invergarry Castle in the grounds.

The Arts and Crafts movement is lovingly nurtured in this restored Victorian terraced house in a conservation area.

The only pub on this family-owned, car-free island, the New Inn has smart contemporary interiors alongside plenty of innate charm.

The actor Colin Firth is a fan of 'the hospitality, the food, the comfort of the rooms', not to mention the location at this sprawling, cliff-top Edwardian house.

Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines has created a country house hotel for the 21st century, a foodie destination and place of soft-spoken luxury, in a Georgian mansion overlooking the Exe estuary.

The old Ring o' Bells village pub is now a restaurant-with-rooms, transformed by new owners and trained chefs Caroline Gardiner and Alan Lucas in a 2020 lockdown makeover.

There are wonderful views from this pink-washed manor house in gardens edged by Ballinakill Bay, with interiors full of antiques and curios, imaginative menus and personable third-generation owners.

Redolent of its sometimes racy past, this veritable palazzo, designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1850 for the Duke of Sutherland, sits in National Trust pleasure grounds above the Thames.

It is more than thirty years since Sarah Burgoyne first welcomed guests to her Georgian manor house, 'in enchanting gardens and grounds', where 'deer roam at dawn and birdsong is guaranteed'.

Once a retreat for Lord Beaverbrook, this Victorian mansion, filled with fascinating memorabilia, is home to chic contemporary bedrooms, a fine-dining restaurant, Japanese grill, library, cinema and spa.

A tree-lined drive leads to this splendid Victorian Scottish baronial pile and luxury hotel in landscaped grounds, where dinner can be a grand occasion or a more informal affair.

A Regency mansion in parkland, once home to Percy Shelley's mother, has been reimagined as a contemporary country house hotel infused with a blithe spirit.

'Absolutely faultless from the moment we arrived', Malcolm and Patricia Lewis's manor-house hotel (Relais & Châteaux) sits in landscaped gardens with a lake and specimen trees.