‘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’.

The herb garden is a major draw at this Georgian country house hotel set amid lawns, orchards and woodlands close to Sandringham.

After more than 50 years, this country house hotel and spa on the edge of the New Forest still sets the standard for luxury.

‘We couldn’t have enjoyed it more or been more welcome,’ write trusted Guide correspondents this year, after dropping by at Keith Makepeace’s long-established, family-run hotel with views across National Trust coastline to the open sea.

'Tis a very pritty place,' wrote the diarist and former resident, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. After visiting the National Trust’s red brick mansion, Guide readers happily concur.

‘Without exception the house and its antique contents are fabulous; it’s an absolute gem,’ wrote a long-term Guide reader after visiting the National Trust hotel overlooking Snowdonia.

Lawns run down to a sandy beach on the shores of Lough Swilly from this engaging country house, built for a Bishop in 1760 and enlarged by serial extensions.

‘Old-fashioned in all the best ways’, ‘a Cornish jewel’, ‘a real joy – almost a privilege – to stay there’; complements rained down from trusted readers after visits to Toby Ashworth’s hotel on the Roseland Peninsula.

In a hillside location with ‘stunning sea views’, this supremely family-friendly hotel has something for everyone – indeed, everything for everyone.

Having hosted everyone from Chaplin to Churchill, this ‘superbly refurbished’ Italianate mansion seduces visitors with the prospect of ‘luxurious country house living’.

‘Very enjoyable; a place for relaxing weekends and special occasions,’ say Guide inspectors of the ‘beautifully proportioned Queen Anne mansion in spacious grounds’.

‘We much enjoyed our stay,’ writes a reader this year, of this Edwardian country house hotel in ‘grounds of a sporty nature’.

The Cave family’s holiday hotel overlooking Cardigan Bay is ‘very much family orientated, and the facilities are excellent – indoor pool, putting green, games room, beach across the road.’

‘Completely wonderful in every way.’ ‘One of our absolute favourites.’ Readers give the thumbs-up to Richard Seton’s spa hotel overlooking the River Dart.

Steeped in history, this ‘wonderfully civilised’ coastal Georgian mansion combines ‘style, luxury and high standards’.

‘The physical ambience and sea coast views are wonderful,’ write trusted readers, of this spa hotel overlooking bay and village on the Pembrokeshire coast.

In springtime, the drive up to Jan and Adam Moore’s 18th-century former sporting lodge is ‘lined with young trees in blossom, bulbs everywhere’.

While families whoop it up at sister hotel Bedruthan (previous entry), grown-ups enjoy the serenity at this adults-only hotel and spa.

At the end of a ‘precipitous, twisty descent’, ‘courageous’ visitors are rewarded with ‘unrestricted views and a genuine, good-humoured welcome’ at Lana de Savary’s ‘fabulously secluded’ cliff-face hotel.

A grand little handful of Georgian terraces combines into Patricia Roberts’s lovingly restored, ‘elegant’ town house hotel.

An easy-going atmosphere and oodles of character filter through Charles Lowther’s dramatic ancestral home.

When the only aim is to relax, the Robinson family’s cosseting Jacobean manor house is happy to oblige.

‘Behind the dramatic facade lies a beautiful garden,’ writes a reader in praise of this hotel and spa with its green oasis at the centre of a divine Georgian crescent.

Standing right on the quay overlooking estuary and salt marshes, in a coastal village of flint cottages, gift shops and galleries, Emma Stannard’s hotel is ideal for outdoorsy family holidays.