White walls, pleasant staff, bright sunshine, blue, blue sky, sparkling sea just over the road…’ For one reader this year, everything hit the spot at this cool small hotel overlooking Lyme Bay. Owners Mary-Lou Sturridge and Tony Mackintosh, formerly of London’s Groucho Club, who transformed a shabby B&B into a stylish destination, continue to draw inspiration from British Edwardian hotels and Edward Hopper’s Cape Cod. Pristine bedrooms, all with sea views, come with a radio, books from the cosy library. Bathrooms have a shower or claw-footed bath. The food is ‘excellent, tasty’, unfussy, allowing local ingredients to shine. There is an all-day bar menu including crab sandwich, home-made ice cream, Dorset cream tea. The restaurant’s ‘very good menus’ are devised by Alastair Little (a typical dish: tranche of turbot, haricot beans, preserved lemon dressing). On fine days, the place to eat is on the terrace, serenaded by the surf. The breakfast menu runs from the full Monty, via kippers, to avocado on toast. ‘Not often have I sent a “rave review”, but I can’t wait to return.’ (Minda Alexander)