Country-house luxury abounds at this child-friendly, dog-friendly hotel, a Georgian mansion in ‘well-maintained gardens that are a huge joy to visit’. With a spa, tennis and croquet, picnics and treasure hunts, it’s a place for families to relax and have fun. Bedrooms are classic and elegant, with 24-hour room service, Floris toiletries, fruit, flowers, shortbread, ‘everything high quality, including fabrics’. Couples in search of romantic seclusion might book 400-year-old Ivy Cottage with private garden, open fire and indoor hot tub. A group might opt for four-bedroom Bea’s Cottage, with working fireplace, rockery garden, private terrace and private dining room. You can take tea in a drawing room designed by Thomas Hardy, and dine in the restaurant, conservatory, Whisky Bar, or on the terrace. The chef and head gardener consult on the produce to be grown in the kitchen garden for dishes such as steamed hake, courgette and basil, Thai red prawn and coconut curry mousse, barbecue aubergine, tempura courgette. There are separate menus for vegans and kids. Breakfast is commended by readers, and if you fancy a pub lunch, just stroll to sister property The Acorn Inn (previous entry). (ID, GP)