Do you remember an inn, Miranda? Hilaire Belloc certainly remembered this Georgian coaching inn, from which he described setting out in The Four Men.

A beacon of hospitality on a remote cliff-top between the English Channel and the rolling downs, this decommissioned 19th-century lighthouse found new purpose in 2010 as a unique B&B. It offers superb 360-degree views from the lantern room, taking in the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs and the South Downs.

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.

Made over in the Signet Collection's signature style, this country-house hotel in a picturesque South Downs village has a relaxed ambience, chic, affordable bedrooms, a boutique spa, and imaginative brasserie fare with good plant-based options.

Long a social hub for a thriving village between the South Downs and the coast, this family-run gastropub is highly regarded for its warm welcome, smart bedrooms and a menu that mixes pub classics with more imaginative dishes.

Hostess Sarah Burgoyne, a Paris-trained cook, will serve a no-choice dinner by arrangement at her Georgian manor house B&B in gardens and grounds with a glamorous swimming pool, where breakfast brings new-laid eggs from the hens, and honey from the hives, and where guests are greeted with tea and cake.

East Coast America meets South Coast England at this single-storey, seaside-chic hotel with appealing room choices, fantastic locally sourced food, a spa cabin, beach yoga workshops, and a vast expanse of sands, washed by the English Channel, just over the spectacular dunes.

Overlooking the reed beds and salt marsh of Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve – a paradise for birdwatchers – this excellent restaurant with chic, individually styled rooms is praised for its cooking of local ingredients, especially fish and shellfish, and imaginative plant-based options.

At the heart of the South Downs National Park, this village dining pub, with smart rooms in a single-storey stable block, is the rural sister of the seaside Crab & Lobster, Sidlesham. It is country but no bumpkin.

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.

In rose-filled gardens approached by a bridge across a stream, the Wild family's hotel, converted from three 17th-century cottages a stroll from its own quayside, has well-equipped, country-classic bedrooms, and both formal and informal dining in restaurant and brasserie.

Swathed with creepers and bedecked with flowers, this wildly atmospheric B&B stands on a cobbled street in a medieval citadel with views over Romney Marsh.

Occupying one of Britain's prettiest disused stations and popular with honeymooners, this excellent B&B offers a choice of bedrooms in the station building and restored, mahogany-fitted Pullman coaches, with cream teas served in the waiting room or on the platform, and a locally sourced dinner in the rare Edwardian Pullman dining car, Princess Ena.

Amid historic and glorious Grade I listed lakes and woodland gardens, this Italianate mansion wins acclaim for its serenely beautiful bedrooms, and for chef Jean Delport's cooking, served theatrically in Interlude restaurant, rating both a Michelin star and Michelin green star.

Dog friendly, child friendly, cosy and characterful, this historic village inn near the South Downs Way has bedrooms that blend quirky rusticity with modern comforts, along with a menu of pub classics and more modern dishes.

In beautiful, mature, landscaped gardens with views to the South Downs, a few minutes' drive from the coast, this Georgian rectory B&B is a tranquil retreat, with traditional bedrooms that look onto the gardens, two with an antique four-poster.

In a historic and picturesque South Downs village, this colonial-style Victorian villa with galleried veranda has 16 classy bedrooms and an airy restaurant and dining terrace serving short menus of locally sourced, seasonal, modern British dishes.

Crammed with ceramics, clocks, chinoiserie, religious art, fire screens and antimacassars, this 19th-century villa B&B is a homage to the Victorian Aesthetic movement. Breakfast includes eggs from the hens, honey from the hives and fruit from the walled garden.