In a Georgian Arcadia, this Jacobean mansion, refashioned in the 1700s, was the palatial refuge of the exiled Louis XVIII and his court. Public rooms are filled with antiques, oil paintings, flowers. A staircase adorned with statues leads up to lavish suites and spacious bedrooms supplied with freshly baked biscuits. A top-floor room was ‘excellent, large and light’, with a shared roof terrace; a room in the stables annexe is ‘perfectly good’, though less grand than those in the main house. ‘Everything hangs together with style, confidence and attention to detail,’ writes a reader this year, praising ‘the relaxed friendliness and a sense that nothing is too much trouble’. Smart dress is expected in the dining rooms, where head chef Daniel Richardson’s cooking is modern and inventive. ‘I particularly liked the venison infused with hibiscus.’ A less happy reader found his meal ‘bland’, while, on an off night, a party of 20 caused kitchen and service to falter. Some other quibbles (‘cold, bendy’ breakfast toast, a mojito with no mojo). However, all agree that Historic House Hotels, on behalf of the National Trust, maintains the house and grounds in high style. (Matthew Caminer, and others).