‘We have become addicted to this place,’ write trusted readers, following a return visit to this recently ‘spruced-up’ Elizabethan manor house (Relais & Châteaux). ‘The staff go to great lengths to make your stay memorable, the welcome is always warm, the service impeccable.’ From classic doubles to deluxe four-poster rooms, the accommodation is ‘superb’. ‘The style varies from traditional Tudor to smart, modern but equally cosy.’ A ‘generous hospitality tray’ includes a coffee-maker and ‘delicious home-made biscuits’. ‘Huge log fires’ burn in comfortable lounges, while in the ‘wonderfully airy’ new restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that open on to a garden patio, is ‘absolutely spectacular, a tour de force’. It hosts Michelin-starred chef George Blogg’s ‘exquisite’ dishes, highlighting orchard, kitchen garden and local produce. ‘Our excellent carpaccio starter was followed by a delicious lobster done two ways.’ Breakfast is ‘a total joy’ with ‘perfectly cooked eggs’, pastries, ‘whatever you like’. The ‘breathtaking’ gardens were laid out by William Robinson, pioneer of the natural English style, over his 50-year tenure, from 1885. (Francine and Ian Walsh, Bill Bennett)