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. It is run by Lila Arora, whose grandmother, the late chatelaine extraordinaire Imogen Skirving, inherited the house in 1983 and – inspired by a dream – welcomed paying guests there as friends. 'Distinctive and interesting' bedrooms have antiques, paintings, clocks, books, cameos, curios and a story. Cartland was a favourite of the 'Pink Lady of Romance' (but is no longer pink). A reader had a 'wonderful, cosy room' that was 'mock Tudor, done well'. Ground-floor Barrister, with panelled walls and porcelain plates around the picture rail, was where a QC pal of Imogen's hung out his suit. Public rooms are similarly beguiling with a 'small bar and lovely sitting room'. In the flagstone-floored dining room, Gary Booth's short menus include dishes such as pan fried wild sea bass with smoked eel agnolotti and oyster beignet. 'The food was superb, cooking imaginative and locally sourced.' (ID, KP)