Congham Hall

Thirty acres of parkland surround this Georgian merchant’s manor house in the Norfolk countryside, renowned for its fragrant garden of 400 herb varieties. Public rooms are ‘furnished with suitable reproductions (and occasionally antiques), garnished with drapes, paintings, objets d’art’, a reader relates. Bedrooms have a coffee machine, fresh milk, home-made cookies, complimentary use of the spa. Dog-friendly rooms around the spa garden have a private terrace. Five new cabins overlooking the orchard are in apple-pie order, with comfy seating and a wall of windows to a terrace with freestanding bath. ‘The place felt to be in good shape,’ wrote Guide regulars (although one felt let down by his evening meal). ‘Our bedroom was incredibly comfortable and peaceful.’ In the ‘airy conservatory restaurant’, menus inspired by home-grown produce might feature wild garlic and pea soup, hake with salsa verde, rhubarb crumble tart with verbena ice cream. Children under seven are served high tea with due ceremony, ‘silver cutlery and folded napkin’. Breakfast brings free-range eggs, grilled kipper with mustard butter, the full omnivore and herbivore. (Anna and Bill Brewer, and others)