Langar Hall

Everything is peachy at this apricot-hued Georgian country house in the Vale of Belvoir, at the end of a long avenue of lime trees, transformed from a family home into a delightful, idiosyncratic and much-loved hotel. It is run by Lila Arora, whose grandmother, the late chatelaine extraordinaire Imogen Skirving, inherited the house in 1983 and – inspired by a dream – welcomed paying guests there as friends. Bedrooms have antiques, paintings, clocks, books, cameos, curios and a story. Cartland was a favourite of the ‘Pink Lady of Romance’ (though it is no longer pink). Ground-floor Barristers, with panelled walls and porcelain plates around the picture rail, was where a QC pal of Imogen’s hung out his suit. A cosy wooden pod and chalet can be booked in the grounds. Public rooms are similarly beguiling. In the flagstone-floored dining room, Gary Booth’s short menus of ‘outstanding food’ include locally sourced dishes such as fillet of Blackberry Farm beef, ox cheek and salsa verde, or salt-baked beetroot, herb falafel and chickpea dressing. ‘Dishes arrived promptly, with delicious amuse-bouche. Service is alert and courteous.’ (RG)