The high number of returning guests speaks volumes about the warm welcome, quiet luxury and generous comforts of this country house hotel, set amid glorious Dales walking country. ‘We’re always happy there,’ reports one reader. ‘A small hotel with brilliant staff,’ says another regular. The creeper-covered Georgian and Victorian house, run for many years by the Reynolds family, 
has a refined yet homely atmosphere (dogs are welcomed), its public rooms filled with antiques, plump sofas and rich wallpapers. In the sitting rooms and garden, someone is always on hand to 
bring tea or drinks: ‘staff are excellent, friendly and efficient’. Bedrooms are country house style 
with boldly coloured or papered walls, a sprinkling 
of antiques; ‘comfy beds and nice towels’. Most have a bath as well as a shower; all spoil with fruit and home-made biscuits. The ‘imaginative’ modern English menu is praised: ‘The food is so good here.’ Main courses might include cod with morels and wild garlic, or poussin with ceps and asparagus, while the extensive breakfast choice includes poached haddock and a full Yorkshire. (Franz Kuhlmann, PA)