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.

Following a stunning redesign, this family-friendly, luxury New Forest hotel and spa continues to set the standard for country-house comfort, romance, fun and superb food.

In deepest Constable country, Wendy and Jim Sarton's characterful timber-frame manor house specialises in residential art courses; there is a large studio in the ground for workshops from tutors in various mediums. But even if you're not interested in taking a course, it's a great place for an 'extremely relaxing weekend'.

This Victorian gothic mansion might appear a little forbidding, but step inside and you are overwhelmed by a warm ambience and beautiful interiors, while some guests choose to sleep in the woods in a timber-lined 'hive' or treehouse.

Anne Boleyn's childhood home, reimagined by William Waldorf Astor as a fairytale moated castle, stands in landscaped grounds with an Edwardian 'Tudor' village, home to this exceptional B&B.

Just four minutes by train from arty downtown St Ives, this adults-only 1930s hotel is a serene refuge from the bustle, with views over the clear waters of St Ives Bay.

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

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.

Guests' happiness is paramount for host John Edward Joyce at his characterful, eclectically furnished country house with charming bedrooms and exquisite but unstuffy fine dining in the Mustard Seed restaurant.

Banish images of fast-food outlets and slot machines when you break your journey at Tebay on wild and woolly Shap Fell, 60 miles from the Scottish border.

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.

Within a Georgian house in a trendy corner of East London once home to Huguenot silk weavers, Peter McKay and Douglas Blain set out to weave a fantasy of their own.

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!)

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.

Free-roaming ponies and donkeys wander past the garden gates of this Arts and Crafts-style single-storey house in the magical surroundings of the New Forest.

Roses festoon this family and dog-friendly 17th-century pub with rooms, in a thriving village close to the RSPB's Snettisham Nature Reserve.

There are mesmerising views of medieval Alnwick Castle from the Duchy of Northumberland's new hotel, occupying the Georgian Commissioner's house and former school, with further rooms in a modern extension, and 'top-notch' cooking in the restaurant.

Bedrooms with outdoor space and kitchenette occupy converted outbuildings at this unusual, dog-friendly B&B set in gardens ten minutes from the beach. A cooked-to-order breakfast is served in the Victorian farmhouse dining room.

The River Rothay runs past the back garden of this small country-house hotel with attractive, individually styled bedrooms and good food.

Perfectly placed to enjoy a distillery tour or to follow the whisky trail, Sonia Marshall's Victorian house in the heart of Speyside stands in mature grounds on the edge of a swathe of the ancient Scots pine woodland that surrounds Grantown.

Olga Polizzi's beautifully styled Georgian fishing lodge, built for the Duke of Bedford and scandalous Duchess Georgiana, stands in a picturesque designed landscape with the River Tamar running through.

With porte cochère, crenellated tower and fine Victorian interiors, this country house overlooking Loch Portree is redolent of the history of the Macdonald family, who have lived there for more than 200 years.

Birdwatchers and bon vivants beat a path to Tracy and Galton Blackiston's Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in a flint farmhouse with Blakeney nature reserve on the doorstep.

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.

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.

More resort than hotel, this child-friendly, dog-friendly place of escape on the Farncombe estate, on a hill above Broadway, offers a wide choice of accommodation, from chic bedrooms to treehouses and shepherds' huts, with bar/lounges, fine-dining restaurant and a wide range of activities on site.

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.

'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.

With peacocks in the garden, kilt-wearing staff, fire-warmed sitting rooms and antiques at every turn, this 17th-century country house is an indulgent place to stay.