The Henley

It’s partly the lovely situation, with a ‘stunning panorama’ across the Avon estuary to Burgh Island, partly the warmth of the welcome that bring some of our readers back to this beachside bolt-hole time and again. Petra Lampe and Martyn Scarterfield’s former Edwardian holiday cottage has seaside views from the dining room, the decked sun terrace and from each of its four bedrooms. Readers praise the wonderful beach, the ‘relaxing, comfortable ambience’, and not least the ‘outstanding’ food. From Monday to Saturday, Martyn cooks a restaurant-quality three-course dinner – maybe crab salad, asparagus ravioli, steak or sea bass with fennel sauce, served in a conservatory with Lloyd Loom chairs and potted palms. If you want to eat in, you must give three days’ notice. Breakfast is of a similarly high standard – try the full Devon with Aune Valley bacon – setting you up for a round at Bigbury Golf Club, or to walk the South West Coast Path. On Sunday night you might push the boat out or, rather, take the world’s only hydraulic sea tractor across to Burgh Island (see previous entry) for a black-tie affair in the Grand Ballroom.