‘As soon as we arrived, the kids got started on the Woolley Grange Sheep Challenge treasure hunt,’ writes a Guide insider after a stay at this ‘beautiful Jacobean manor house in lovely grounds’. Part of Nigel Chapman’s Luxury Family Hotels group, it has ‘scores of considerate little touches’ making for real child-friendliness: ‘space to run around, fairy houses, a hidden glockenspiel, swing ball, cricket, badminton…’ Comfy sitting rooms with log fires are patrolled by resident spaniel Rex, while bedrooms – some in annexes – are traditionally styled, including doubles, trebles, and suites such as the Hayloft, with sitting room and two bedrooms, sleeping seven. At night families might take an early supper together, or children have high tea before parents sit down to a candlelit dinner. In the award-winning restaurant, chef Jethro Lawrence uses seasonal produce from local suppliers and the kitchen garden, in such dishes as confit duck leg, pancetta, shallot potato cake, garlic kale, caramelised red onion, demi-glace. At breakfast, guests devour the morning’s newsletter over such ‘delicious’ dishes as poached eggs and spinach on a toasted muffin. ‘Friendly staff went out of their way to be helpful.’ (AR-T)