Readers are drawn back year after year to Caroline and Jonathan Kaye's welcoming B&B, a Victorian gentleman’s residence in walled gardens. It benefits from ‘a great location backing onto the fells, a short walk into the town centre and down to the lake – but, best of all, the hosts are great fun’. The interior design plays on the Gothic details of the building. Each bedroom is unique, but all have handmade furniture, and ‘lots of extra touches’ – fresh milk, ground coffee, REN toiletries. Wansfell has a finial four-poster, spa bath and rainfall shower. The duplex Coach House Suite has a double spa air bath, a wet-room shower, a lounge-dining room and kitchenette. Afternoon tea – in the garden when the sun shines – is a treat, and though there is no formal dinner, they offer supper platters. In the morning, choices include a Cumbrian grill with handmade sausages; free-range eggs; smoked haddock; pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. ‘Breakfast was fantastic… All the food we had here was tasty, fresh and perfectly cooked. Would I return? In a heartbeat.’ (Ian and Jean Lawson, Lisa Washington, and many others)