‘A wonderful place’, this Georgian mansion with a pedigree (Lord Byron was married to Anne Isabella Millbanke in the drawing room) stands in landscaped gardens overlooking Durham’s heritage coast. In its time it has been a military hospital, whisky smugglers’ HQ and TB sanatorium, but today it is a tip-top, cliff-top hotel with heritage, made over in contemporary, colourful style. An award-winning spa is seamlessly attached to the main building; the pool has hydrotherapy jets. Housekeeping is ‘meticulous’: attention to detail includes a choice of bedding. The enthusiastic young staff are ‘a particular strength’. The Ada Lovelace Suite (recalling Lord Byron’s daughter) has twin slipper baths in the window; garden suites have an outdoor hot tub. The dining room features gold-plated chandeliers and Damian Broom’s imaginative menus: day-boat turbot with salsify cooked in dulse, and mussels; for vegans, slow-cooked sand carrots, oat and millet porridge, with smoked carrot sauce. If you prefer pan-Asian cuisine, head for Ozone in the Serenity Spa. ‘We were made very welcome and were well cared for.’ (AW, and others). This hotel is a member of Pride of Britain.