Readers are unanimous in their praise of the welcoming, helpful staff at this friendly hotel at the top of the town, with lovely garden, light-filled restaurant, and glorious views over Lyme Bay.

A lovely, wisteria-swagged, 17th-century Bath stone inn, this is a gastropub with a wide choice of characterful rooms, a serious attitude to food, regular comedy nights and an irrepressible sense of fun.

With smartl interiors and imaginative, locally sourced, restaurant-quality food, this dog-friendly country inn on the Lowther Estate is a happy mix of pub informality and country-house comforts.

Named in honour of Shrewsbury's famous son, this Grade II* listed Sandford House, moments from the Severn towpath, has evolved into a B&B full of Darwin references, with animal and plant wallpapers, maps and natural history objets.

A Roman Doric portico makes a swanky statement about this Grade II listed Georgian house, but within lies a stylish yet relaxed and fun boutique hotel that is an oasis in the heart of the city.

Away from the crowds but close to good walking in the Ribble valley, this traditional coaching inn is both friendly village local and foodie hotspot, with impressive and glamorous bedrooms, onsite microbrewery, fine-dining and tasting menus in the restaurant, pub classics and light bites at lunch.

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.

In the heart of the Gloucestershire countryside, this one-time Saxon hunting lodge, rebuilt over centuries and rich in Tudor detail, is an intimate B&B, with large and characterful bedrooms, welcoming hosts, and a Cordon Bleu dinner cooked by arrangement on Fridays and Saturdays.

You don't have to blow a fortune to stay at this relaxed yet refined hotel in some converted barns, the former home of Langham Glass, and featuring many charming nods to its heritage.

Modern mixes with medieval on the ramparts of what remains of Nottingham Castle, with this sleek hotel the perfect place to escape the bustling city.

In the Debatable Lands, just south of the Scottish border, Gerald and Margo Smith's stylish, Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms scored very highly with a trusted Guide reader – and no debate about that!

There is great food and serious fun to be had at this clifftop hotel on the South West Coast Path, its interiors filled with whimsical touches, its bedrooms all unique, its subtropical gardens a wonderland of witty sculptures.

Eligible military guests receive a discount at this Edwardian gem of a Scottish revival country house in beautifully maintained gardens, owned by a charitable trust and filled with family mementoes, where bedrooms blend classic and contemporary style and tasting menus feature produce from the walled kitchen garden.

The Buchanan family's 16th-century coaching inn offers a warm Yorkshire mix of traditional pub, smart food and modern bedrooms with character. Overlooking the market square, it's a popular locals' spot both for the ales in the fire-warmed bar and snug and the accomplished cooking.

'An exceptional seaside hotel', with views from the rooms and terrace to secluded Combesgate beach below, this family-friendly hotel is a former Edwardian gentleman's retreat.

The catch of the day could be Shetland hake in the restaurant or nifty fielding on the sands at this pub-with-rooms overlooking the Firth of Forth, with its own beach cricket team.

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.

In an idyllic location, cascading down the cliffs at St Mawes with views to St Anthony's lighthouse, Olga Polizzi's seaside hotel continues to delight readers. Once home to a yacht club, it is spread across a cluster of houses and has a feel of the French Riviera about it.

There is no isle here, no lake, no bee-loud glade – the name of Richard and Janine Burton's lauded restaurant-with-rooms draws inspiration from WB Yeats's Innisfree, a place of serenity and escape.

Agatha Christie memorabilia, murder-mystery weekends and Art Deco touches set the tone at Hugh and Emma Asher's creeper-clad hotel, former home of the author's doctor friends, in a bustling market town.