‘Whenever a special date crops up, we make a beeline for Gravetye and have never been disappointed.’ Guide stalwarts vouch for Jeremy and Elizabeth Hosking’s luxury country house hotel, an Elizabethan manor house (Relais & Châteaux), surrounded by woodland, with gardens laid out by William Robinson, exponent of the ‘wild’ garden style. Andrew Thomason is the consummate manager, his staff are ‘charm personified’. Bedrooms, some with a four-poster, some more contemporary, have many thoughtful touches – ‘home-made biscuits, bottled water, a jar of sweets, books, postcards, orchids, Noble Isle toiletries. . .’ Another trusted reader, who last year asked for kiwi fruit, this year found some ‘prepared and waiting in the fridge’. Downstairs, ‘a splendid log fire’ was burning in a panelled lounge. A new, glass-walled dining room brings the gardens inside. ‘Magician’ George Blogg holds a Michelin star for such creative offerings as ‘out-of-this-world mini-beetroot meringues, partridge several ways, perfectly cooked veal sweetbreads, strawberry and beetroot soufflé with liquorice ice cream’. Breakfast is ‘everything it should be’. (Francine and Ian Walsh, Bill Bennett). This hotel is also a member of Pride of Britain.