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.

Readers are unanimous in their praise for James Moffett's Peak District Hotel, a 17th-centiry gem, a paradise for walkers, where the welcome is friendly, the hospitality generous and the cooking hearty.

With walks from the doorstep, views of Peak District hills, a peaceful garden, breakfast feasts and restful bedrooms, it's no surprise that Underleigh wins so much praise.

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.

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.

Amid rolling hills, where Shropshire nudges Herefordshire, Pippa and Willem Vlok's restaurant with rooms comprises a picturesque set piece of medieval and Georgian farm buildings.

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.

Behind the Tudor black-and-white facade of this old coaching inn lies a gastropub big on sustainability, with some quirky options for an overnight stay.

An ideal base for exploring the Peak District, this sympathetically updated 16th-century coaching inn offers a wide choice of rooms at very reasonable price, and a menu of locally sourced dishes to please all tastes.

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

For bed and bard, you won’t find better than the Eden Collection’s child-friendly, dog-friendly, Georgian red-brick hotel, official partner of the RSC, right opposite the Royal Shakespeare and Swan theatres, with smart contemporary interiors, brasserie and alfresco dining.

This former shooting lodge, in a lovely Peak District setting beside the Derbyshire Wye, offers appealing accommodation, with some rooms opening onto a patio, and food of a high order in the restaurant.

Close to Stratford-upon-Avon, this gastropub has 16 attractive, generously equipped bedrooms in an annexe block, each with a Juliet balcony or patio. It serves sophisticated dishes alongside pub classics indoors and out.

With onsite brewery, boutique-style bedrooms in the main building and a converted barn, and a menu of superior pub grub, this 300-year-old village inn amid rolling Derbyshire countryside has been sensitively updated for the 21st century.

A dog-friendly and intensely characterful B&B filled with antiques and original artworks, Victoria House is in the centre of a lively market town, with its back garden overlooking the 11th-century church. On-site Jemima's kitchen café serves light lunches, cakes and pastries.

Bedrooms, some with access to a shared courtyard, are spread across the main house and converted outbuildings at this hotel In landscaped grounds on the edge of the Wolds, where interiors mix antiques with modern comforts, while fine and casual dining are on offer in the dog-friendly Pig and Whistle pub and restaurant.

Set in a sprawling, historic and honey-stone building with tall chimneys and leaded windows, this hotel offers grand rooms and antiques along with a thoroughly modern spa, a bistro-style menu in the barrel-vaulted Grill by James Martin, plus real ales, bar snacks and small plates at Tavern.

With quirky and extravagant interiors, creative cooking in the restaurant, and a botanically inspired spa, this 18th-century mansion in parkland is a welcoming hotel for families and their four-legged friends.

This old pub in a tiny rural village had stood empty and rotting for years when it was rescued and revived. It now has smart bedrooms in a converted piggery, and exceptionally good food.

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.