There is ‘something very special’ about James and Corrina Rae’s hotel, a reader writes. ‘It is so cosy, yet in many ways grand.’ The Georgian mansion, altered in the 1930s by Clough Williams-Ellis, overlooks tiered gardens with ravishing views across the Golden Valley. Bedrooms, from ‘cosy’ to ‘top notch’, are beautifully decorated. Two rooms, one with a four-poster, have a spa bath. A family suite with its own entrance has bunks for the kids. Our inspectors' ‘comfortable’ room had good antiques, ‘charming wallpaper and warm colours’. All rooms have homemade biscuits, organic toiletries, complimentary use of the sauna, plunge pool and Jacuzzi in the new wellness garden. Also new this year is head chef David Brown. In the panelled dining room, his short menus are a showcase for home-grown, local and seasonal produce, in dishes such as Burleigh garden vegetables, goat’s cheese, pumpernickel, pecan; Creedy Carver duck, peach, parfait, carrot. You can eat more casually from the grazing menu, on the terrace when the sun shines. ‘I could dream, write and rest here. Lovely scenery around and outstanding food.’ (DD, JC, and others)