It was nearly Howard's end in 2015 before two local families stepped in to restore the fortunes of this traditional village pub, which 'makes a great base for exploring the Cotswolds' with its 'upmarket pub food, good service and excellent breakfasts'.

This old pub in a tiny rural village had stood empty and rotting for years when it was rescued and revived, with smart bedrooms in a converted piggery, and cooking of a very high order.

An olde-worlde pub in a Chatsworth estate village combines here with a modern brasserie, while individually styled bedrooms are spread between the inn and three cottages.

A brook runs by the terrace of this smartly refurbished gastropub with rooms, where you can eat locally sourced, imaginative dishes in the restaurant or alfresco, or simply enjoy a pint with the locals.

A rustic aspect belies the rather smart interiors at this pub on the Chatsworth estate serving pub classics and more imaginative fare.

A short stroll from the Swan of Avon's birthplace, this 15th-century inn is now a Fuller's pub with some very characterful rooms, serving real ales, pub classics and more imaginative dishes.

After standing empty for almost nine years and falling into decay, this handsome village pub was rescued by the community a decade ago and thrives today as a friendly local and smart pub with rooms.

A once boarded-up village boozer with views over the Dove valley, this is today a thriving gastropub with well-equipped, stylish annexe rooms, and a menu of pub staples and creative seasonal dishes, served alfresco when the sun shines.

With onsite brewery, boutique-style bedrooms in the main building and a converted barn, and a menu of popular classics and more exotic dishes, this modernised 300-year-old village pub retains plenty of character.

Debra and Phil Wright's village pub-with-rooms on the Welsh borders 'puts to shame places that charge twice as much', writes a regular Guide reader.

With its wonky roofline, leaded windows, honeyed stone and distinctive black-and-white Tudor wing, this family-run hotel overlooks the green of a much-photographed, quintessential Cotswold village.

This sprawling honey-stone building with its tall chimneys and leaded windows offers history, grand rooms and antiques, along with a thoroughly modern spa and 21st-century luxuries.

In the historic town centre, this 16th-century coaching inn has cool, casual-chic interiors, warm and friendly young staff, innovative cooking in the restaurant, real ales and cocktails in the buzzy bar.

In leafy Edgbaston, a whitewashed Victorian villa is home to this colourful boutique-style guest house, its modern bedrooms furnished with some antique and retro furniture, with a bright sitting room, and a sister gastropub next door.

In landscaped grounds on the edge of the Wolds, this 18th-century-cum-Victorian manor house mixes antiques with modern comforts, fine and casual dining in restaurant and dog-friendly Pig & Whistle.

A 16th-century inn whose signal torch once guided travellers across the fens is today a beacon of hospitality, and has been in the care of the Dennison family for the past 40 years.