Oak Bank

In an unassuming village in the Lake District (best known, perhaps, for its gingerbread and its Wordsworth connection), Glynis and Simon Wood’s ‘friendly’, ‘good-value’ family-run hotel houses a remarkable restaurant offering ‘imaginative’ dishes with a local flavour. ‘We couldn’t have asked for better,’ writes a Guide reader in 2016. Sample a local beer in the mature garden, or sink into a chair by the lounge fire with Dorothy Wordsworth’s Home at Grasmere. ‘The service is attentive without being obtrusive.’ At dinner, the ‘creative’ modern dishes might include pan-seared wood pigeon, roast celeriac, pickled mushroom, dashi broth. ‘Little extras like the home-baked breads and the canapés are a lovely bonus.’ ‘We were the only diners one night, and the chef asked what we liked.’ Check into individually designed bedrooms, all with sherry and home-made biscuits. ‘Our quiet second-floor room was warm on a cold day.’ The ‘varied’ breakfast menu includes Scotch pancakes and omelettes, ‘always piping hot’ (though ‘we would’ve liked better bread’). ‘We’ve booked to return in a fortnight.’ (Lorraine Burns, Donald Reid, and others)