In a market town between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, this pub with rooms deftly mixes historic charm – beams, crackling fires and exposed stonework – with an updated, modern touch.

In a former smithy, shop and barns overlooking the village duck pond, this popular hotel and restaurant is undergoing refurbishment and expansion under new owners the Rockliffe Hall Group.

There's a huge sense of fun at this stylish hotel, whose logo is Vanity Fair's caricature of the 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Oscar Wilde's Nemesis. Laurence and Helen Beere's hotel, a quirky combination of four townhouses has pugilism-themed jokes throughout; the decor is knockout too.

Chef-proprietors Guy and Brittany Manning have brought skills honed at triple-Michelin-starred Per Se in Midtown Manhattan to this thatched gastropub on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with 'stupendous' food in the bar/restaurant and garden, and stylish guest bedrooms across the road, with decking from which to watch the ducks on the River Avon.

The gardens are the great glory of John and Sue Cushing's Georgian manor house deep in dairy country, with abundant home-grown produce featuring on menus, and light summer lunches served on the rose garden terrace.

Amid 1,000 acres of historically important gardens, pleasure grounds and woodland, this romantic Elizabethan manor house, built by an ironmaster for his bride, forms an impressive backdrop for Michelin-starred cuisine.

Lakeland luxury at its finest comes courtesy of Gilpin, with its Michelin-starred dining, private hot tubs in the majority of its indulgent rooms and attentive staff. Its flagship rooms are extravagantly large glass-cube spa suites that extend over a pond and offer private garden, spa room and circular bath.

Leave the fuss and fret of the AI(M) at Scotch Corner to reconnect with the land at this idyllic hotel, centred on a Georgian coach house amid gardens, parkland and woodland.

Former Gleneagles pastry chefs Phillip Skinazi and Andrew Mackay are enthusiastic hands-on owners at this former coaching inn in a conservation village, now an excellent restaurant with stylish, well-equipped rooms.

A former coaching inn, this top-notch B&B with secluded back garden combines hotel-quality accommodation with the warmth and intimacy of an owner-run guest house.

Overlooking the water towards Mull, in a 'wonderful location near the sea and harbour', this hotel on the Hebridean island of Iona has a deserved reputation for its warm welcome, fresh and creative food, and feel of restorative peace.

An Edwardian homage to 17th-century style, this beautiful manor house with rich Jacobean-inspired interiors is run as a luxury hotel with fine-dining restaurant where you can enjoy a 'truly memorable meal'.

Behind the solid exterior of an Edwardian park-side villa lies a Scandi-chic boutique hotel and popular drop-in restaurant.

Formerly Barnsley House, this 17th-century stone manor house became part of the Pig group in the summer of 2024, offering the expected interesting mix of rooms and hideaways, a 25-mile menu using an abundance of home-grown produce, and the bonus of beautiful gardens created by the renowned Rosemary Verey.

On the Coastal Causeway Route, overlooking Ballygally Bay, this traditional hotel, occupying a much-extended 16th-century castle, is a welcoming, comfortable base from which to tour Game of Thrones countryside.

In sub-tropical gardens with views over Lyme Bay, this family-run hotel offers a wide choice of accommodation, and imaginative, locally sourced food.

Country-house luxury is given a bold modern spin at this Georgian manor house overlooking Durham's rugged coast, with tranquil Serenity Spa, garden rooms with hot tubs, magnificent house suites, fine dining in the restaurant, and Japanese-inspired light bites.

Overlooked by the dramatic landmark of Arthur's Seat, this period gem of a Victorian villa with fine original details and handsome furnishings is now run as a friendly B&B with imaginative breakfast choices. It's just ten minutes from the city centre.

Built by the founder of Westonbirt arboretum next door, this Victorian Renaissance-style Cotswold stone manor house is now a dog-friendly Fuller's hotel in its own lovely gardens and woodland. It exudes an easy charm, with a relaxing bar and drawing room, interesting bedroom choices and varied options in the restaurant.

Celebrity chef Rick Stein's famous fish restaurant and seafood bar, with coastal-inspired bedrooms, is the flagship of a mini ‘Padstein’ empire that includes a cookery school, a gift shop, fishmonger's and deli.

Rescued after languishing empty for seven years, this 18th-century part-thatched former tannery turned village ale house has been renovated in a style of rustic simplicity, with dog-friendly, unfussy bedrooms, a dining room serving a short menu of pub classics and more complex dishes, and a pleasant, leafy garden.

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

High on the clifftop above St Peter Port, this townhouse hotel has enviable views over the harbour and neighbouring islands, sleek bedrooms and an established reputation for its food.

Friendly and affordable, this B&B with simple, airy bedrooms (two big enough for a family), occupies an 18th-century former bakery in a hamlet on the edge of the Goodwood Estate, with breakfast served in the old baker's shop, and a decked terrace where guests can enjoy coffee and cake or an evening glass of wine.

The former home of the late Sir Bernard Ashley and his wife, the designer Laura Ashley, dating from the 1600s and remodelled in Edwardian Lutenesque style, is replete with country-house comforts, and is home to Sir Bernard's significant art collection and to a fine-dining restaurant.

Set on a 300-acre working farm, this legendary country-house hotel began life in 1964 as a restaurant run by farmer's wife Myrtle Allen, using produce from the farm and walled kitchen garden, and has grown into a thriving business, with cookery school, café and arts venue ,while keeping faith with its founding principles.

Hrishikesh Desai's innovative, Michelin-starred cooking is just one of the attractions at this luxury country-house hotel in beautifully maintained gardens deep in the Cumbrian countryside.

Centred on a Georgian farmhouse in Arts and Crafts ornamental gardens, with a spa, gym, cinema and contemporary bedrooms, this honeyed-stone luxury country-house hotel holds a Michelin star for Ricki Weston's inspired tasting menus in The Dining Room, while guests can dine more informally on small plates in Grey's, or from an all-day lounge menu.

With golf, tennis, kayaking and powerboating, indoor pool and outdoor hot tub, this spa hotel in 65 acres of garden and woodland on the Helford river is a holiday resort in its own right.

Solitary Nephin, Ireland's highest stand-alone mountain, provides a dramatic backdrop to this classic, pink-washed Georgian country house in wooded grounds on Lough Conn.