‘Hospitality was as good as ever, with a welcome log fire on a chilly day.’ Guests are warmly received at Emma and Tim Ford’s Georgian country house, set in mature gardens. It is the kind of place that draws people back (‘our fourth time here’, ‘our first visit and not our last’). Afternoon tea (part of the half-board package) brings ‘generous slices of cake, shortbread to die for’. You do well to hold back, though. Dinner, cooked by Tom Ford and son Olly and served in a ‘large, airy dining room’, is, say trusted readers, ‘amazing’, ‘immaculately prepared, and presented with finesse’. The Fords met at Sharrow Bay, Ullswater, in its day the very prototype of a fine country house hotel, where Tim worked under the legendary Francis Coulson. His menus showcase West Country produce in such dishes as rump of lamb, baby spinach, dauphinoise potato; fillet of Red Ruby beef, shallot purée, in a red wine sauce. Bedrooms and bathrooms ‘match the quality of the food’, with a ‘comfy bed, a generous hospitality tray, high-quality toiletries’ – and one change this year – ‘only five scatter cushions in our room’. Breakfast is ‘up to the usual high standard’. (MC, F and IW, and others)