Biggin Hall

In a beautiful setting in the Peak District, this historic country house offers a homely atmosphere and excellent value for money, which draw guests back year after year. The 17th-century building with stone mullions and leaded windows, and surrounded by gardens, is a higgledy-piggledy mix of rooms and corridors. Original features – beams, wood-panelling, vast stone fireplace in the lounge – are the backdrop to traditional furnishings, gilt-framed pictures and the odd bit of armour. Comfortably unstuffy, ‘it’s like staying with an old friend’, comments one guest. Bedrooms are spread between characterful rooms in the main house – some with four-poster or half-tester – and a more cottagey style in converted outbuildings. All are light and include a welcome beer or Prosecco, plus fresh milk. Guests gather in the lounge or library for drinks before a ‘straightforward’ dinner that could include beef feather blade with bubble-and-squeak mash, and sea bream with a warm salad. At the ‘plentiful’ breakfast, which includes the local Derbyshire oatcakes, you might spot hens clucking around the lawn. ‘Amazing value.’ (JR, and others)