Swish up the drive through an Arcadian 18th-century landscape to reach this Jacobean mansion.

The city centre is an easy walk from Helen and Laurence Beere’s ‘near-faultless’ hotel, in an ‘unsurpassed situation’ within reach of museums, shops and heritage spots.

‘Friendly, smiley staff’ contribute to the ‘extremely enjoyable’ atmosphere of this traditional hotel overlooking the sea.

‘Every comfort is anticipated’ at this ‘classy, tasteful’ Elizabethan manor house, from the garden flowers in the public rooms to ‘the most extensive cheese trolley we’d ever seen’.

‘Tim and Stefa Hart’s country house hotel is consistently outstanding, with service I have yet to see bettered: courteous, attentive, unintrusive. And Aaron Patterson’s Michelin-starred cooking never fails.’

‘It’s up there with the top hotels we’ve stayed at,’ writes a reader this year of Sue and James Murray’s romantic rebuild of a Jacobean manor house, surrounded by parkland.

Look out for the Union flag, and the doorman in suit and hat: this ‘intimate luxury hotel’ is all about ‘old-fashioned London hospitality’ – and is well loved for it.

‘Superb’, ‘excellent’, ‘impressive’, ‘delightful’ – on the edge of the New Forest, this model of a country house hotel and spa is on top form, having celebrated its golden anniversary.

Pull a Windsor chair over to the log fire at Cheryl and Thomas Robinson’s creeper-covered 18th-century inn, in a picture-postcard village in the North Pennines.

Local couple Gary and Donna MacRae ‘revel’ in making their Borrowdale valley hotel ‘welcoming, relaxed – so enjoyable’.

‘Everything you’d expect from a really good hotel is here,’ writes a trusted Guide correspondent in 2017, fresh from celebrating the holidays at the Francis family’s characterful hotel above Hugh Town.

From dolphin-spotting to table tennis, there is plenty to enjoy at Keith Makepeace’s family-friendly hotel, which stands in expansive countryside, with views towards the sea.

‘A cheerful, likeable hotel’, this William and Mary mansion stands in Italianate parkland, with easy access to the city centre.

In this thickly rural corner of north Wales, Susan and Bryan Webb run their much-admired, 'friendly, relaxed’ restaurant-with-rooms.

‘A lovely old house’, this historic mansion on the slopes of Pydew mountain has glorious views of Snowdonia.

‘The views are stunning’ from Shaun and Jenny McKivragan’s ‘small, personable’ hotel, in a dramatic setting above Loch Linnhe, with the Morvern mountains beyond.

On a sheltered cove on the wildly scenic Galloway coast, Sian and David Ibbotson’s stone hunting lodge is liked for its ‘tranquil setting’, its ‘professional, friendly, caring’ staff, and its fine collection of single malts.

‘In lush, beautifully tended gardens, this wonderful cliff-top hotel offers a sense of timeless peace and isolation.’

For ‘exceptional service’, a scandalous history, and rich views of the Thames, you’d be hard pressed to better this extensively restored Italianate mansion.

Deep in the Wye valley, this privately owned 17th-century manor house stands in ‘a great atmosphere of peace’, overlooking green meadows leading to the river.

In green grounds at the foot of Gragareth, this ‘friendly, unstuffy’ hotel makes a cushy base for travellers exploring the Yorkshire Dales and the southern Lakes.

‘We had total faith that everything would be the best it could be during our stay.’

‘We can’t wait to go again,’ say guests this year, of Miles and Audrey Hunter’s small hotel on the Welsh border.

‘Nothing compares to this special place,’ says a Guide reader in 2017 after a return visit to the Cunliffe family’s glamorous country house hotel.