‘Frances Atkins, the chef/patron, is lovely, and the food is divine’ at this creeper-covered 18th-century coaching inn run by the Michelin-starred chef and her husband, Bill. In an ‘unsurpassed setting’ overlooking the green in a Dales village, the restaurant-with-rooms wins many returnees, who praise the ‘first-class hospitality’. Kick off an evening with ‘delicious canapés’ by the log fire in the lounge. ‘Excellent daily-changing menus’ showcase produce from the large kitchen garden, along with wild foods, and locally sourced meat and fish. Characteristic offerings: blanquette of Nidderdale lamb, courgette, pickled gooseberry; truffled brill, shrimp butter, lemon balm. Rest, afterwards, in a room at the inn (some ‘bijou but well equipped’) or in one of the ‘super’ two-storey courtyard suites, ‘faultlessly styled’ and stocked with ‘everything you’d expect from a luxury hotel – magazines, delicious biscuits, first-class toiletries’. In the morning, breakfast on home-made breads and preserves; ‘excellent smoked haddock’. ‘Not cheap, but it’s worth every penny.’ (William Wood, David and Lorna Hellard, F and IW, and others)