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.

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.

Rescued from closure by two local couples, this gastropub at the heart of a picturesque village has stylish bedrooms and cooking of a very high order.

Built as lodgings for the now-ruined abbey, 'Britain's oldest inn', much altered over centuries and cherished by its Texan owners, has a wide choice of beautifully presented rooms and appealing dining options.

Ideally situated beside Corsham Court at the heart of the village, this former coaching inn has smartly refurbished bedrooms, a friendly, casual ambience and a menu of pub classics and fancier dishes, using produce from the kitchen garden.

Striking modern artworks adorn the clubby interiors of this idealised rustic-chic dining pub and locals bar in a village on the Duchy of Somerset's estate, where each bedroom has its own style, and menus of sophisticated pub fare showcase locally grown, farmed and foraged ingredients.

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.

A loyal following of guests returns time and again to this 17th-century house, with stone-mullioned windows in 'a lovely quiet location, with nice gardens'.

Everything is laid on for a fun, relaxing family escape at this dog-friendly Jacobean manor house, with a crèche, cinema, spa, pools indoors and out, playground, games room, comfy lounges, country-house bedrooms in the main house and cottages, and formal and informal dining.

Approached down a mile-long avenue of lime and beech trees, this grand Palladian mansion in 500 acres of parkland and gardens is a family friendly country-house hotel with spa, pools, an equestrian centre, luxury bedrooms, Michelin-starred menus in Restaurant Hywel Jones, and less formal dining in the Walled Garden Restaurant.

With 'a great setting in large grounds' and the 'huge plus' of an outdoor heated pool, this ornate Italianate Victorian house in woodland and gardens impressed our inspectors, who found it a 'very relaxed place'.