‘The views are glorious,’ writes a Guide regular, after a visit to Toby Ashworth’s hotel above Carne Beach. ‘Each night I fell asleep to the sound of waves.’ The widescreen panorama of Gerrans Bay is fully exploited by ‘beautifully maintained’ gardens with ‘many spaces to sit and gaze across to Nare Head, and a deliciously warm outdoor pool’. It’s a vista shared by many of the ‘spacious’ rooms with balcony or terrace. All are supplied with those country house essentials: armchairs, books, magazines, fresh blooms. Readers also praise the ‘super-soft’ towels, ‘good linen’, fresh milk at turn-down, overnight shoe cleaning. ‘It’s difficult to imagine being as comfortable away from home.’ Service is ‘faultless’. In the relaxed Quarterdeck, and the more formal silver-service restaurant, Brett Camborne-Paynter’s menus, with much seafood and daily lobsters, offer ‘fantastic quality and taste’. One guest enjoyed the dessert trolley in particular, and having ‘venison or bananas flambéed at your table’. There’s a top-notch afternoon tea, acclaimed artwork, an elegant motor launch, espionage games for younger guests, a spa for older ones. ‘I wish we could visit more often.’ (TS, and others)