In ‘beautifully maintained’ grounds, from orchards to a Japanese garden, Beryl and James Kearney’s early 17th-century mansion is ‘memorable for all the right reasons’, reports a Guide stalwart in 2019. ‘The warm welcome, the quality of the accommodation, the exquisite meal and the setting all score the highest marks.’ The reader’s ground-floor suite had rugs, period furniture and antique mirrors, and a staircase leading up to a seating area with a ‘comfortable sofa, books and magazines’. An ‘immaculate bathroom had a whirlpool bath and a powerful shower’. All bedrooms, some in an extension, have bottled water, cut flowers, handmade toiletries. At dusk, a garden stroll and ‘all was peaceful, the only sound birdsong’. Newly promoted chef Marcio Laan’s seasonal dishes, served by candlelight in VM restaurant, included a ‘perfectly presented crab starter, the most tender and gorgeous lamb rump I’ve ever tasted’, an ‘absolutely scrumptious’ chocolate pudding. The young staff were ‘cheerful, faultless, clearly well trained’. Breakfast brings ‘potato cake with poached eggs and delicious smoked bacon. What a pity I was staying only one night.’ (Trevor Lockwood)