A cosy beamed pub is the warm heart of this hotel, in the shelter of wooded, red sandstone cliffs that reminded the young Queen Victoria of 'a ballet or a play where nymphs appear'.

With glorious views over the Tamar valley and a good choice of rooms and suites, this former mine captain's house has long been a gastronomic destination.

A Roman Doric portico makes a swanky statement about this Grade II listed Georgian house, but within lies a stylish yet relaxed and fun boutique hotel that is an oasis in the heart of the city.

Eco values as well as enjoyment are fundamental to this cliff-top hotel, with sea thrift-covered roof, sweeping curves, reed-filtered pool and walls of windows to soak up the light and the seascape.

A grand country house with both Jacobean and Georgain sides, Hartwell gazes over an 18th-century landscape, with Ionic temple, obelisk, and a lake spanned by an arch from the old Kew Bridge.

The epitome of country-house luxury, Tim and Stefa Hart's hotel stands on a peninsula, overlooking beautiful gardens and the shining expanse of Rutland Water.

You can dine in style in the Grand Ballroom or hunker down in the cosy old Pilchard inn at this extraordinary Art Deco hotel on a tidal island just a sea tractor ride from the 21st century.

A New Forest bolt-hole, this country house hotel has an easy glamour, romantic and family-friendly rooms, heart-warming Italian food and top-notch spa.

You can imagine nodding off in an armchair over the latest issue of Samuel Johnson's Idler, or William Hazlitt's polemics in the Tatler, when you step into this time-warp hotel and close the door on trendy Soho. It was here, on a Georgian terrace in the 1820s, that essayist Hazlitt penned his valediction, and antiques and furnishings keep faith with a bygone age.

Olga Polizzi's beautifully styled Georgian fishing lodge, built for the Duke of Bedford and scandalous Duchess Georgiana, stands in a picturesque designed landscape with the River Tamar running through.

At the centre of a glorious Georgian crescent, two adjoining mansions are home to an elegant yet family-friendly hotel with oasis garden and beautiful spa.

This quintessential English country house with spa, pools, kids' club, elegant bedrooms and fun tree houses, hits all the right luxurious notes for a romantic or family stay.

Garden suites with hot tubs, a state-of-the-art spa, brightly coloured sofas under gleaming chandeliers . . . this country house hotel offers luxury with a contemporary edge.

The epitome of Edwardian grand-hotel luxury, with its liveried doormen, dazzling interiors, glamorous bedrooms and Michelin-starred dining, the Goring is, for all its cachet, welcoming and unaffected, with an acres of garden at the rear.

Redolent of its sometimes racy past, this veritable palazzo, designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1850 for the Duke of Sutherland, sits in National Trust pleasure grounds above the Thames.

Close to the city centre, a Jacobean-style Victorian villa sitting above a manicured front garden, combines with Hampton House across the road as a 'really fantastic hotel'.