With a Michelin-starred restaurant, Grade II listed garden, 17th-century pele tower and French drawing room, Askham Hall sounds as if it might be very formal; not a bit of it. 'The most homely stately hotel we have ever stayed in,' reports one reader. Beyond the 'impressive entrance' of the Lowthers' ancestral home, now a restaurant with rooms, lies a 'warm welcome' and a relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere, with dogs and children mingling among family heirlooms, books and modern art. One drawing room has doors to a classic English country-house garden. Main-house bedrooms – some with leaded windows and fireplace – mix antiques with modern pieces, while those in the courtyard have a rustic style. Some rooms have four-posters or antique Chinese wallpaper; bathrooms might have a roll-top bath. In Michelin-starred Allium, Richard Swale's tasting menu's 'utterly delicious food', with fresh produce from the kitchen garden, might include roasted John Dory with a langoustine bun, or chestnut gnocchi with black truffle. One reader, who has visited several times, concludes: 'On each occasion, the food, service, welcome and rooms have been first rate.'