Handy for the racecourse, this William and Mary mansion, built for Sheffield cutler Thomas Barlow ‘in the Italian mode’, operates as a hotel and spa, ‘ideal for those seeking individual attention and pampering’. After years of neglect and a stint as Brummels nightclub, it is now in the hands of the National Trust. Public rooms, with period furniture, ‘imposing portraits’ and tall windows, overlook gardens with a lake, croquet lawn and ha-ha. A trusted reader found ‘deep sofas’ in a lounge ‘warmed by a roaring fire’. His bedroom was ‘small and functional, with a comfortable bed, a somewhat vintage bedside radio’. Far grander suites include the Duke of York with fireplace and coronet king-size bed, or the Lady Mary, recalling the diarist and former resident, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. In the panelled dining room, chef Ashley Binder uses produce from the walled garden in ‘very good’ seasonal dishes. Our man enjoyed ‘duck and salmon canapés, a pumpkin panna cotta, grouse with haggis’. Breakfast brings freshly squeezed orange juice, ‘exemplary’ scrambled eggs. ’Tis indeed ‘a very pritty place’, as Lady Mary noted. (RG). This hotel is also a member of Pride of Britain.