‘A superb hotel,’ reports a trusted reader in 2019, of Robin Hutson’s Elizabethan manor at the end of a mile-long drive. ‘Stunning grounds, a beautiful main house, helpful young staff. A lovely experience all round.’ Rooms range from ‘cheap and cheerful’ with monsoon shower, and ‘comfy-luxe’ with shower and in-room bath, to the Laundry with a circular copper bath, the Horsebox, Hayloft, and cottages. ‘We had a perfect little cottage with two generously sized bedrooms and bathrooms, living room, tiny kitchen with all we could need.’ Public rooms have the group’s (see index) signature artful scruffiness, with comfy sofas in the ‘magnificent’ Great Hall-turned-bar. Guests eat in the panelled dining room; more simply in (or outside) The Folly, with wood-fired oven. The kitchen garden and Devon larder supply much fresh produce. ‘Our starters were delicious (with a vegetable I didn’t know existed), mains less good, but redeemed by perfect desserts (best sorbets ever).’ After breakfast, a recommended walk affords sightings of ‘pigs, ducks, hens, white doves, pheasants, little lambs roaming. We very much hope we can go back (our wallets permitting).’ (Sybille Raphael, and others)