Swish up the drive through an Arcadian landscape to reach this Jacobean mansion. Enlarged and remodelled in the 1700s, it has ‘extremely grand’ interiors that have been ‘kept in fine order’. ‘The location and decor are everything you expect from a National Trust property,’ writes a Guide insider, ‘and the friendly staff work well as a family.’ Bedrooms in the main house and Hartwell Court, a converted riding school, are huge; bathrobes and home-made biscuits come as standard. ‘We really appreciated our room in the main house – silent, comfy, with great views.’ ‘Royal rooms’ with antiques and paintings recall the years when the house was home to the court-in-exile of Louis XVIII of France. Today’s guests spend long afternoons in the spa and its swimming pool, then dress up to dine by candlelight, perhaps on Aylesbury duck or line-caught sea bass, truffled gnocchi and charred leeks. ‘The food is up to the elegance of the surroundings,’ said guests this year, though others wished for more variety. After a ‘fine breakfast’, ‘formally served’, head outside to the ‘marvellous gardens’. (Francine and Ian Walsh, and others). Hartwell House & Spa is also a member of Pride of Britain hotels.