In a Georgian Arcadia, this Jacobean mansion, refashioned in the 1700s, was the palatial refuge of the exiled Louis XVIII and his court.

‘We have become addicted to this place,’ write trusted readers, following a return visit to this beautiful Elizabethan manor house (Relais & Châteaux).

‘A wonderful place,’ writes a trusted reader, of Julie Leivers and Damien Pease’s long-established hotel on the Devon/Cornwall border

‘Perfection to the very last detail,’ writes a reader this year, of Tim and Stefa Hart’s hotel with landscaped gardens stretching down to Rutland Water.

‘Can only talk in superlatives,’ writes a reader this year of Sue and James Murray’s historic manor house.

With its classic red brick facade, smartly suited doormen and Knightsbridge location, the hotel has offered the same ‘splendid’ intimate hospitality for almost half a century.

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

In a ‘beautiful setting’, beside the Saxon church in a ‘picturesque’ North Pennines village, Cheryl and Thomas Robinson’s 18th-century inn is ‘an absolute gem’.

Gary and Donna MacRae take evident pride in their hotel in its own wooded grounds, perched above this hamlet in the Borrowdale valley.

‘High standards are maintained,’ writes a devoted fan, following a New Year stay at the Francis family’s hotel, forged from a 16th-century fortification.

‘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.

‘One comes for the food, and it doesn’t disappoint,’ reports a trusted Guide reader after a 2018 visit to Susan and Bryan Webb’s Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms in a ‘peaceful rural location’.

‘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.

‘Highly, highly recommended. We shall return.’ Much praise from a reader for this ‘wonderful little boutique hotel’ with ‘delightful’ views across Loch Linnhe and the Morvern mountains.

In the lea of the cliffs, overlooking a private beach on the rugged Galloway coast, Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge offers a great sense of escape.

‘As good as ever in all respects,’ writes a regular visitor after this year’s visit to Lawrence Hoskins’s popular hotel, a historic landmark of this Georgian town.

‘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.

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

‘A wonderful place,’ write readers this year, of Andrew Wildsmith’s first venture, between Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.

On the banks of the River Ouse, Julia and John Hoskins’s ivy-covered town house hotel impressed trusted readers, who enjoyed the buzz created by locals ‘chatting over drinks’ in the ‘casual, cosy setting’ of the bar.

‘We always look forward to staying.’ Miles and Audrey Hunter’s ‘tranquil’ small hotel on the Welsh border received a flurry of praise from new and regular visitors this year.

‘They just keep making it better every year,’ writes a trusted correspondent, of this luxurious country house hotel in Lakeland countryside.

Consisting of bungalows and low buildings in gardens around a small bay (with a Blue Flag beach) on Crete’s north coast, this secluded resort hotel stands in ‘beautifully designed’ gardens with ‘wonderful views’.