Ship-owner Allan Hughes chose the perfect site for this handsome Lutyens-style Edwardian country house, on high ground, with panoramic views across Exmoor to the coast, the approach awash with daffodils in springtime.

Following a stunning redesign, this family-friendly, luxury New Forest hotel and spa continues to set the standard for country-house comfort, romance, fun and superb food.

Free-roaming ponies and donkeys wander past the garden gates of this Arts and Crafts-style single-storey house in the magical surroundings of the New Forest.

If you're outward bound for France, this farmhouse B&B, just ten minutes from the port of Dover and Eurotunnel, is perfect for a stop-off – but you might not want to leave. 'This didn't feel like a hotel, it felt like a home,' writes one contented reader.

Bring the dog, bring the kids, revel in the gorgeous scenery and the great outdoors at this ‘lifestyle hotel’ with private shorefront on Ullswater and plenty of activities on offer. It's the old, staid Rampsbeck Hotel reinvented (out with the chintz and swags, on with the wetsuits or hiking boots!)

Life is attuned to nature at this country-house hotel in a Georgian mansion on a working estate. with walled garden, biodynamic farm, luxury spa, and two restaurants that celebrate seasonality and provenance.

You can dine in style in the Grand Ballroom or hunker down in the cosy old Pilchard inn at this extraordinary Art Deco hotel on a tidal island just a sea tractor ride from the 21st century.

You don't have to blow a fortune to stay at this relaxed yet refined hotel in some converted barns, the former home of Langham Glass, and featuring many charming nods to its heritage.

Lakeland luxury at its finest comes courtesy of Gilpin, with its Michelin-starred dining, private hot tubs in the majority of its indulgent rooms and attentive staff. Its flagship rooms are extravagantly large glass-cube spa suites that extend over a pond and offer private garden, spa room and circular bath.

With 'nothing in between to Canada', this pretty blue-and-white weatherboarded farmhouse, which sits above a secluded cove on Bryher's rugged west-facing coast, is England's most westerly hotel.

Country-house luxury abounds at this child-friendly, dog-friendly hotel, a Georgian mansion in ‘well-maintained gardens a huge joy to visit’.

This Victorian gothic mansion might appear a little forbidding, but step inside and you are overwhelmed by a warm ambience and beautiful interiors, while some guests choose to sleep in the woods in a timber-lined 'hive' or treehouse.

There is a clever mix of the traditional and modern at this Victorian coaching inn with contemporary main-house, poolside and spa suites, inventive cooking in the restaurant, and an all-year heated outdoor pool.

In wooded grounds with Dartmoor National Park on the doorstep, the Hassell family's country-house hotel and beautiful spa impresses with a warm welcome, great service, and a choice of dining venues.

In a Tudor manor house in the Cotswolds just across from Cheltenham Racecourse, this hotel with spa and 90 acres of grounds is both family and dog-friendly.

A favourite hangout of the England football team, the former home of Lord Louis Mountbatten has contemporary bedrooms, cosseting suites, a good choice of eating and drinking spaces, and a magnificent spa.

The defunct 17th-century Marquis of Cornwallis pub has been enlarged, refurbished and reborn as a luxury hotel and wedding venue with exclusive subterranean spa, outdoor and indoor dining, and sweeping views over the Brett Valley.

A neo-Gothic fantasy castle in glorious pleasure grounds and parkland, the Cunliffe-Lister family's hotel offers a taste of country-house living, with opulent interiors, spacious bedrooms and suites, estate-to-plate dining and a spa.

With 100 metres of waterfront, river-view bedrooms, casual all-day dining, and plenty to do, this is a fun, casual hotel with a good choice of bedrooms at affordable prices.

A Victorian lido, restored and remodelled with spa, poolside bar and Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, now has five chic rooms in a Georgian townhouse just moments away.

The only pub on this family-owned, car-free island, the New Inn has smart contemporary interiors alongside plenty of innate charm.

A 'sprawling, traditional building in a beautiful setting' at the tip of Windermere, this family and dog-friendly hotel has easy access to lake-based activities as well as a spa.

Steeped in romance, this Elizabethan manor-house hotel is a place of contrasts, blending history with modern amenities, from the Great Hall lounge and four-poster bedrooms, to Scandi-style wellness rooms with outdoor hot tub, a state-of-the art spa, a Michelin-starred restaurant and more informal brasserie.

Koos Bekker and Karen Roos have brought to Somerset the vision behind their hotel on a Dutch Cape wine estate, creating an idyll around Palladian Hadspen manor house, with farm-to-fork dining, dreamy spa, unique rooms in converted outbuildings, beautiful gardens – and a Roman villa as well as two interactive museums.

A dog and child-friendly hotel above Chesil Beach, this Georgian manor house is dedicated to family leisure and pleasure, with plenty to keep tots and teens amused, while the restaurant serves light bites by day, bistro-style dishes at dinner.

Eligible military guests receive a discount at this Edwardian gem of a Scottish revival country house in beautifully maintained gardens, owned by a charitable trust and filled with family mementoes, where bedrooms blend classic and contemporary style and tasting menus feature produce from the walled kitchen garden.

Each of the beautiful, uncluttered bedrooms has a sea view at Susan Stuart's Georgian house B&B in a subtropical garden, overlooking the harbour and Mount's Bay, where guests are free to drop into the kitchen for coffee and cake, and breakfast is exceptional.

A Victorian mock-Tudor fishing lodge in wooded grounds on the River Irfon is today a spa hotel and foodie destination with a country-house ambience and views to the Cambrian mountains.

Enjoy Victorian Gothic splendour and fine or more casual dining at this country mansion with a spa and golf course in parkland.

An 18th-century mansion built around an older core, this family-oriented and dog-friendly hotel in the New Forest offers flexible dining, high tea for the little ones, a bistro-style restaurant menu and lounge menu, plus bedrooms mixing period and contemporary styling.