They get so much right at Lord and Lady Manners’s 17th-century manor house hotel. Expect a ‘friendly welcome’, ‘good ambience’, housekeeping ‘beyond reproach’ and ‘interesting old paintings’, many of members of the owners’ family. Bedrooms, some with a handmade four-poster, are reached ‘along a maze of corridors’. ‘Ours had a beautifully carved oak wardrobe, a Regency chest of drawers, a new, very comfortable bed,’ writes a trusted reader this year. ‘The tiny bathroom was superb, with an excellent shower over a deep bath.’ But while ‘the right balance between classy antiques and ultra-modern facilities’ is struck, on a Sunday night, ‘loud, invasive’ music played in public rooms, food service was ‘erratic’, a burger shrivelled. The bar menu offers fish of the day, pearl barley and wild garlic risotto, braised lamb shoulder. In the dining room, Dan Smith’s locally sourced dishes include Derbyshire beef fillet, ox cheek ravioli, wild garlic, oyster mushrooms and red wine sauce; hake, potted shrimps, cauliflower, spinach, rhubarb and caper butter sauce. Breakfast brings ‘much-liked’ Isle of Man kippers; ‘the lightest and best croissant I’ve ever eaten’. (Anthony Bradbury, and others)