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.

Away from the crowds but close to good walking in the Ribble valley, this traditional coaching inn is both friendly village local and foodie hotspot, with impressive and glamorous bedrooms, onsite microbrewery, fine-dining and tasting menus in the restaurant, pub classics and light bites at lunch.

A fourth venture for Justin and Charlotte Salisbury, this 16th-century beamed farmhouse-cum-local, a former haunt of Dylan Thomas's, has a range of highly individual rooms, mostly in outbuilding with outdoor seating, as well as larky modern art, upcycled, recycled and vintage furniture, a restaurant and bar serving pub food with a difference.

The Michelin-starred cuisine at this thatched gastropub in quiet Harome is the draw, but the rooms are special too, as is the setting, close to the North York Moors for a day's walking.

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.

Refreshingly different from some more traditional Lake District offerings, this contemporary hotel is in a beautiful setting overlooking Grasmere.

The catch of the day could be Shetland hake in the restaurant or nifty fielding on the sands at this pub-with-rooms overlooking the Firth of Forth, with its own beach cricket team.

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.

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.

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.

A bus ride from Greater London, in the Surrey hills, this whitewashed former coaching inn is a good mix of friendly local and gastropub with rooms, a good base for walking, cycling and picnics on Box Hill.

You drive down a single-track road on the edge of Dartmoor National Park and cross a brook to reach this dog-friendly, very ancient, thatched and whitewashed village pub, redolent of history, serving excellent, locally sourced pub classics, with rustic-chic bedrooms and two resident ghosts.

A former sports bar and one-time Berni Inn, this handsome pub has been splendidly renovated in Art Deco style for Young’s, recapturing its 1920s glory days, when it housed a cocktail bar.

Within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB, this dog friendly former coaching inn, part of the Chestnut Collection, with interiors inspired by the landscape, has rustic-chic and contemporary bedrooms, a bar menu, and modern dishes served in a light-filled dining room and outdoors.

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.

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.

With views over the Vale of York, this village inn has all the warmth, character and robust food expected of a 300-year-old country pub. Owners Michael and Sasha Ibbotson ensure that guests, and their dogs, are well cared for.

In a village close to Bath, one of England's oldest inns offers characterful rooms and above-average pub fare.

Dogs and their people receive a warm welcome at this 18th-century former coaching inn, with cosy bar and candlelit restaurant, a mix of contemporary and country-style bedrooms in the inn and converted stables, and an inventive seasonally changing menu.

Just a couple of minutes' drive from Petworth, with views over farmland to the South Downs, this gastropub has smart contemporary bedrooms and some exciting menu choices.

The only pub on this family-owned, car-free island, the New Inn has smart contemporary interiors alongside plenty of innate charm.

A historic brick and flint malt house with bedrooms spread over the main building, stables and cottages, this new, family friendly, dog-friendly hotel close to a pebble beach garners praise for its ambience and for locally soured food served in the Grain Store restaurant.

An ideal base from which to visit Highclere (aka Downton Abbey) or to spend a day at the races, this dog-friendly, equestrian-themed gastropub has bedrooms in former outbuildings, including the old stables, a wide-ranging menu of pub classics, grills, and imaginative small and large plates.