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.

With the feel of a private club rather than a hotel, this beautifully restored Georgian property lies behind the 18th-century facade of three shop-houses in a once-notorious area that is now filled with hip eateries and bars.

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.

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.

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

If you're looking for affordable luxury, this Victorian mansion in parkland, remodelled in the style of a French château, has spacious bedrooms, opulent suites, and a choice of small-plates dining or a tasting menu.

Indulge in a Porn Star Martini in the sea-facing cocktail bar at this stuccoed, bow-fronted Georgian seafront hotel, for this is Brighton, after all – hip, tolerant and 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.

Amid 1,000 acres of historically important gardens, pleasure grounds and woodland, this romantic Elizabethan manor house, built by an ironmaster for his bride, forms an impressive backdrop for Michelin-starred cuisine.

You can imagine nodding off in an armchair over the latest issue of Samuel Johnson's Idler, or William Hazlitt's polemics in the Tatler, when you step into this time-warp hotel and close the door on trendy Soho. It was here, on a Georgian terrace in the 1820s, that essayist Hazlitt penned his valediction, and antiques and furnishings keep faith with a bygone age.

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.

Everything is peachy at this apricot-hued Georgian country house in the Vale of Belvoir, at the end of a long avenue of lime trees, transformed from a family home into a delightful, idiosyncratic and much-loved hotel.

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.

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.

A beautifully proportioned Queen Anne-style mansion overlooking a duck pond, this much-loved traditional hotel has a new owner, but, after 48 years, Baba Hine remains, overseeing restaurant, bistro and well-equipped, spacious bedrooms.

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.

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.

Caroline and Jonathan Kaye are fun and welcoming hosts at their B&B, a Victorian gentleman's residence in walled garden, praised by many readers for its award-winning interiors, individually styled rooms and suites, delicious afternoon tea and great breakfasts.

With views to the sea across a Regency square, this townhouse hotel, which is the flagship of a small, privately owned chain, has a hip, bohemian vibe, bedrooms with bare brick walls, retro and reclaimed pieces, and a café-bar and lounge.

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.

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.

Lakeland luxury at its finest comes courtesy of Gilpin, with its Michelin-starred dining, private hot tubs in the majority of its indulgent rooms and attentive staff. Its flagship rooms are extravagantly large glass-cube spa suites that extend over a pond and offer private garden, spa room and circular bath.

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'.

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.

With chic bedrooms in the main pub and coach house, and Scandi-style bedrooms in a new-built annexe, this dog-friendly Victorian former boozer is the Chestnut Group's founding venture, a proper pub with locals bar and a restaurant serving classics alongside more imaginative dishes.

Pigs have foraged in the New Forest since the Norman Conquest, but a different breed arrived in 2011, when Robin Hutson took on a Georgian hunting lodge and reinvented the English country-house hotel, with a shabby-chic style mixing designer wallpapers and boot-sale finds in characterful house rooms and hideaway suites. Seasonal menus feature produce from the bountiful kitchen garden.

A Georgian manor house is home to a restaurant with spacious, old-fashioned bedrooms, where Frederick Forster, a former Roux Scholar, has been winning plaudits for his creative ways with locally sourced 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.

Country-house luxury is given a bold modern spin at this Georgian manor house overlooking Durham's rugged coast, with tranquil Serenity Spa, garden rooms with hot tubs, magnificent house suites, fine dining in the restaurant, and Japanese-inspired light bites.

A dog and child-friendly hotel above Chesil Beach, this Georgian manor house is dedicated to family leisure and pleasure, with plenty to keep tots and teens amused, while the restaurant serves light bites by day, bistro-style dishes at dinner.