Once used to billet D-Day troops, this revamped early 17th-century mansion now hosts ‘young children, exhausted parents’ and grandparents. A member of Luxury Family Hotels, it offers ‘expert’ care by ‘extremely friendly’ staff. ‘For a weekend with three generations, it could not have been more suitable.’ Facilities are ‘excellent’. Grown-ups appreciate the spa, monitor listening service, and Sunday morning lie-ins when their broods are collected, fed and, under the gaze of Ofsted-registered nannies, make jewellery, dress up, have a ball – ‘No guilt, it didn’t feel like a dumping ground!’ Close of play brings family movies at 6 pm, while in between, a soft play area, sand pit and ride-on toys for toddlers; an indoor football pitch, air hockey and geocaching for older ones. ‘Spacious and comfortable’ bedrooms, with family-friendly arrangements, are ‘interestingly furnished’ in a modern, colonial style. Flexible mealtimes include children’s tea, family sittings. Eat after 7.30 pm (last admittance for families with children), for more chance of adult-only dining, where new chef Michael Culley creates such dishes as slow-braised Jurassic Coast beef, pearl onions, field mushrooms, braised red cabbage, creamy mashed potato. Breakfast was rated ‘awesome’ by one trusted five-year-old Guide insider.