A new entry to the Guide this year, the latest addition to the Pig litter (see index) is set in a Jacobean manor house just outside Canterbury. ‘Any fan of the other Pigs would love this one too,’ says our inspector. From the ‘helpful’ receptionist who ‘insisted on carrying our bags up four floors’ to the ‘charming’ waiters, staff have ‘the same boundless enthusiasm’ found at the other Pig hotels. The house oozes period features – panelled rooms, secret stairs, quiet nooks for ‘curling up with a book’ – as well as a ‘cosy’ bar and lounge. Bedrooms in the main building have signature Pig comforts: ‘crisp linen’, Roberts radio, snack drawer ‘full of temptations’, and Bramley toiletries. All are up several flights; adjacent coach house rooms are ‘spacious, with their own entrance off the garden’. Hop Pickers’ Huts are smart-rustic rooms on stilts by the river. Food comes from the kitchen gardens or within a 25-mile radius. Dinner is ‘expertly cooked and served’ in the shabby-chic Coach House restaurant. Breakfast is a hot dish from a limited menu; cereal, fruit, cheese, breads and pastries, or a full cooked breakfast. The courtyard looked ‘a lovely place to sit on a sunny day’.