Bring the dog, bring the kids, revel in the gorgeous scenery and the great outdoors at this ‘lifestyle hotel’ with private shorefront on Ullswater and plenty of activities on offer. It's the old, staid Rampsbeck Hotel reinvented (out with the chintz and swags, on with the wetsuits or hiking boots!)

With its towers and battlements this Victorian-folly castle, in 15 acres of grounds, looks imposing yet 'you actually feel like it is your castle'.

Huddled below wooded hills, beside a stone bridge over the River Monnow, this whitewashed former 17th-century coaching inn serves delicious food and has great walks from the door to help you justify eating it.

Historic features are seamlessly blended with contemporary styling at this riverside gastropub with indoor, outdoor and waterside dining, and a menu of pub classics alongside more inventive dishes.

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.

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.

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.

To find a gem in a quiet corner of the visitor-thronged Lake District is not easy, but this smart village inn in the lovely Lyth valley offers 'top-notch food', 'great service' and country-style bedrooms.

From bread to truffles, they cook as much as possible on site in this 'very cosy and friendly hotel', in the rolling South Hams countryside between wild Dartmoor and the sandy beaches of Bigbury Bay.

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'.

In a beautiful location on the shore of Loch Sunart, where otters swim in the waters and red squirrels scamper around the land, this 18th-century lodge offers country-house comforts and plenty of Scottish flair, ranging from tartan fabrics to homemade shortbread.

A Regency beauty with spectacular views from the balconies, this stylish, dog-friendly country-house hotel has a relaxed vibe, beautifully designed bedrooms, and a fine-dining restaurant.

Country-house luxury abounds at this child-friendly, dog-friendly hotel, a Georgian mansion in ‘well-maintained gardens a huge joy to visit’.

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

A popular wedding venue, this Georgian former rectory with the ambience of a small country-house hotel scored highly with Guide inspectors for the superb cooking: a place worth visiting for the restaurant alone.

It's been more than 20 years since Susannah and Stuart Macpherson opened the doors of this beautiful Georgian building to guests, and they still take great pride in providing a friendly, warm welcome along with good food and wine.

Thomas Hardy fans will be in their element at this local watering hole in Dorset, which was the model for 'The Sow and Acorn' in Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

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.

From the oak-panelled hall and portrait gallery to the commodious bars and lounges, this Victorian country house abounds in solid traditional charms, with hunting, shooting and fishing on offer, and local and home-grown produce on the menu.

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.

Much loved by readers, this hotel, restaurant and social hub beside the Great Ouse offers a wide choice of rooms, an all-day lounge and bar menu, sophisticated cooking in the large, attractive dining room.

They have all their ducks in a row at this wisteria-decked gastropub with rooms overlooking the green in a village where mallards glide on old abbey fishponds.

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.

'Hotel settings don't get much more spectacular than the Polurrian's, on the cliff edge overlooking its own beach,' writes a guide insider. The relaxed family and dog-friendly hotel makes the most of the coastal views.

For more than 40 years, Raymond Blanc has held two Michelin stars at this beautiful country-house hotel 'and in our opinion, it's a travesty that he hasn't been awarded three', say Guide insiders.

There is a wide choice of generously equipped rooms at this substantial, dog friendly, family-friendly hotel on the edge of the Burghley Estate, with a pleasantly informal ambience and imaginative, seasonally inspired food served in the bistro.

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.

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.