With sweeping sea views over subtropical gardens, what started life in 1832 as a coaching inn, has grown into a classic, large, family-friendly, dog-friendly hotel with outdoor heated pool and fine-dining restaurant.
With 'a great setting in large grounds' and the 'huge plus' of an outdoor heated pool, this ornate Italianate Victorian house in woodland and gardens impressed our inspectors, who found it a 'very relaxed place'.
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The Castle Hotel - England, Bishop's Castle
Perennial popular, professionally run but relaxed, this former coaching inn with views to the Shropshire hills is an ideal base for walkers and a perfect stopover within sight of the Welsh border.
A stay in Felpham inspired William Blake to write of 'England's green and pleasant land', but it's the beach that draws holidaymakers to the de Savarys' South Coast hotel.
Plas Tan-Yr-Allt Historic Country House B&B - Wales, Porthmadog
There's history a-plenty in this upmarket B&B, an Italianate villa with breathtaking views over the Glaslyn estuary to the Rhinog mountains, warm and welcoming hosts, and bedrooms named after famous former residents, including Percy Bysshe Shelley, who wrote 'Queen Mab' here.
By the parish church in a quiet village mentioned in the Domesday Book, this inviting pub is a popular gathering place, and makes an 'excellent overnight stop'.
Traditional as Burns Night and bannocks, the McMenemie family's Victorian country-house hotel in gardens leading to the shores of Loch Faskally is popular with its largely elderly clientele, who love the comfort of this 'unique establishment' with its caring staff.
Renowned for its beautiful gardens, this Georgian merchant's manor house is set in 30 acres of Norfolk parkland. The country theme is continued throughout – garden herbs are used in the restaurant and the spa, bedrooms are named after plants, and cabins with freestanding tubs on the terrace overlook the orchard.
A romantic Elizabethan-style Edwardian mansion, built for a Manchester cotton bleacher and set in landscaped gardens, is the epitome of a well-run country-house hotel.
It's worth the expense to stay and eat in this 'lovely and historic house with delightful staff', conclude readers. Relaxed and easygoing, the Victorian Scottish baronial hotel on a 28-acre estate has plenty of comfy seating around log fires in bar and lounges.
Caroline and Jonathan Kaye are fun and welcoming hosts at their B&B, a Victorian gentleman's residence in walled garden, praised by many readers for its award-winning interiors, individually styled rooms and suites, delicious afternoon tea and great breakfasts.
Tucked between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains, this red brick inn glows with a warm welcome and down-to-earth charm that attracts walkers, dogs, families and couples.
Welcoming and unfussy, Charles and Edmund Inkin's dining pub is an 'effortlessly stylish' base from which to explore some of Cornwall's best scenery on the coastal path.
In an enchanting Cornish fishing village not far from beaches and gardens, the Inkin brothers' third pub with rooms has long been a firm favourite with readers.
The superb setting of the Nye family's hotel overlooking salt marshes to the sea and Scolt Head Island is matched by 'exceptional food and service', say readers who go back year after year.
A superb base for stargazing at Battlesteads Observatory, this hotel, restaurant and village pub, with five new, dog-friendly eco-timber lodges, is commended for championing sustainable tourism, and for its use of home-grown produce in à la carte and tasting menus for omnivores and vegetarians.
Guests have a wide choice of individually style rooms and suites at this dog-friendly, creeper-covered hotel on the edge of the New Forest, and can opt for fine dining in the restaurant, or cheaper fare in Monty's Bar pub.
A landmark on Dedham's picturesque High Street, looking onto St Mary's Church, Piers Baker's medieval coaching inn impressed our inspectors with a comfortable bedroom 'overflowing with character', swift and personable service, and expert cooking of elevated pub food, especially seafood.
Glamorous ocean vistas draw the eye beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows of this hotel, on a headland above St Ouen's Bay, beside Le Moye Golf Club. Designed to recall 1930s marine architecture, it has a pool in landscaped grounds and an ambience of holiday fun and leisure, with gourmet picnics on offer for a day's surfing or wildlife spotting.
'Ideal if you want a place to unwind or as a base to explore from', this small, intimate hotel is surrounded by wild beauty on the quieter shore of Loch Ness. Owners Anna Low and Philip Crowe are 'wonderful hosts'.
An Edwardian country house in long-time family ownership is run as a spa hotel, restaurant and leisure destination with facilities for golf, tennis, bowls, croquet, swimming.
The rustic-chic bedrooms in farmhouse, cider house and barn at this rural Wye valley retreat in the Forest of Dean are all excellent, but the cooking is a still-greater attraction.
With a Michelin-starred restaurant, Grade II listed garden, 17th-century pele tower and French drawing room, Askham Hall sounds as if it might be very formal; not a bit of it. 'The most homely stately hotel we have ever stayed in,' reports one reader.
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Titchwell Manor - England, Brancaster
With views over meadows and marshes to the sea, this boutique hotel within a former Victorian farmhouse offers contemporary-style bedrooms in colours inspired by the landscape, some with private terrace and hot tub, and serves modern cooking in the bistro and conservatory.
After a day browsing the galleries of this buzzy, arty town, you can escape the crowds to sit serenely sipping cocktails in the sub-tropical gardens at this peaceful small hotel which doesn't allow drop-ins or children under ten.
They market this seaside hotel on Cornwall's craggy Pentire headland as having rooms on the edge of the Atlantic, and they're not kidding: the views towards Towan Head and Fistral beach from most of the bedrooms are breathtaking.
'Hotel settings don't get much more spectacular than the Polurrian's, on the cliff edge overlooking its own beach,' writes a guide insider. The relaxed family and dog-friendly hotel makes the most of the coastal views.
This year there is no updated print edition of the Guide. Entries have been updated online.
You can still buy a copy of the 46th edition, which was published in October 2022.
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The Good Hotel Guide, founded 45 years ago, is totally independent. It receives no payments, no hospitality and no advertising from hotels selected for an entry in the printed edition. Hotels pay to be on the GHG website, but only those which have an entry in the printed Guide are eligible. Selected hotels are recommended by readers, backed where necessary by an anonymous inspection. Richard Fraiman is the owner of the Guide and is its chief executive. Jane Knight and Kate Quill are the editors of the British Guide. Nicola Davies is a contributing editor of the Shortlist, and handles correspondence and research. The Guide specialises in small owner-managed hotels, inns and B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and Ireland. It includes budget B&Bs, good-value hotels and inns as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price range.
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