‘Friendly, efficient’ staff, ‘very comfortable’ rooms and ‘excellent’ food draw visitors to this 17th-century coaching inn ‘with a modern twist’.

‘Friendly’, ‘informal’ and ‘welcoming’, James Moffett’s ‘characterful’ hotel is well liked by walkers and dog owners, who come for the ‘reasonable prices’ and the ‘marvellous Derbyshire Dales setting’.

In well-kept gardens reaching to the River Derwent, where wild trout dart through the water, this stylish 17th-century manor house is run with ‘high standards’.

In a ‘gorgeous’ setting, ‘blending into the hillside’ just yards from the Welsh border, Miles and Audrey Hunter have run their ‘lovely’ small hotel for nearly 30 years.

Teatime brings ‘some of the nicest, warm, home-baked scones’ at this ‘welcoming’, ‘beautifully kept,’ traditional hotel on the Chatsworth estate.

'I love it as a place to get away from the business of everyday life.’ Experience traditional hospitality at this ‘graceful’ Queen Anne house in the Severn valley.

‘Outstanding’ cooking brings guests up the winding, chestnut tree-lined drive to Susan and Max Fischer’s Edwardian manor house.

‘Lovely’ bedrooms, ‘triumphant’ dinners and a ‘warm, genuine welcome’ come together at Hari and Colin Fell’s relaxed hotel on a former working farm in the Forest of Dean.

‘You’d be hard pressed to find a hotel with a more impressive view.’

Pass meadows dotted with grazing cows and sheep on the way to this 17th-century former coaching inn, in a village that William Morris proclaimed to be the most beautiful in England.

‘We thoroughly enjoyed our stay – and our dog loved it, too.’ Teeming with pastoral character, Henry and Rebecca Hunter’s ‘well-presented’, refurbished 300-year-old hotel, built on an ancient castle bailey, is a refuge for walkers and cyclists seeking good-value Shropshire accommodation – and a fine selection of real ales to go with it.