Owned and run by hospitality professionals with a passion for provenance and sustainability, this white-stuccoed 19th-century boutique guest house overlooking the harbour has light-and-airy interiors and paintings by St Ives artists.

There are ‘sweeping vistas’ from this Lutyens-style country house in ‘stunning grounds’, now a luxury B&B praised for the warmth of the welcome and the ‘friendly, attentive’ owners and staff.

This Victorian inn, on a country estate and organic farm in the Barle Valley, in the heart of Exmoor National Park, has been refurbished by three brothers who have retained its rustic charm while giving it a subtle contemporary nudge.

A Georgian house on the owners’ small holding is run as a guest house and restaurant with beautifully styled bedrooms, heated pool, tennis court, and an ethos inspired by Italian agriturismo.

Part of the Barkby Group, this stylishly updated Cotswold stone hotel on the market square is a winning mix of cask ales, beams and crackling log fires, modern European cooking and contemporary country-style bedrooms.

Down a single-track road on the edge of Dartmoor national park, this dog-friendly, ancient, thatched and whitewashed pub, with four individually designed bedrooms, is a local hub serving exceptional gastropub fare.

The Gloriana of Robin Hutson’s Pig hotel collection (see other entries), this Grade I-listed Elizabethan beauty stands in ‘wonderful grounds in a special location’ in the peaceful Otter valley.

‘An enchanting destination’ is how readers describe Olga Polizzi’s Regency hunting lodge, which stands by the River Tamar in an Elysian landscape designed by Humphry Repton.

On the banks of the River Colne, this updated 17th-century coaching inn mixes country-style and contemporary comfort in well-equipped bedrooms, while dining options include gastropub and brasserie fare.

‘You feel as though you’re on the French Riviera’ at Olga Polizzi’s seaside hotel ‘in one of the most idyllic locations you could hope to come across’.

The old, pointy-gabled Victorian Summerleaze Court Hotel hardly knows itself these days, with its cool New England style and sunny terrace above a sandy surfers’ beach.

With golf, tennis, kayaking and powerboating, indoor pool and outdoor hot tub, this spa hotel in 65 acres of garden and woodland on the Helford river is a holiday resort in its own right.

A playful mix of Edward Hopper’s Cape Cod and Edwardian seaside hotel, this white-painted villa above Chesil Beach has an easy-going stylishness, conducive to fun.

A single-track lane winds its way to this Tudor-style country house, in gardens and woodland, on the banks of the Teign, on the edge of Dartmoor national

With a waterside terrace, coolly stylish interiors, well-equipped bedrooms and a chef who honed his craft in Raymond Blanc’s kitchen, this Edwardian hotel in a fishing village on the Fal estuary is the place to idle away blissful days.

In an isolated hamlet on the edge of Exmoor national park, where hog-backed cliffs tower above the Bristol Channel, this hotel, in a handsome rectory dating back to the 16th century, 'goes from strength to strength'.

‘If they could bottle the atmosphere, they’d make a fortune,’ writes a Guide insider, of this dining-pub with rooms on the edge of the Fonthill Estate.

From bread to truffles, they cook as much as possible on site in this little hotel, in the rolling South Hams countryside, between wild Dartmoor and the sandy beaches of Bigbury Bay.

A loyal following of guests returns time and again to this 17th-century house, with stone-mullioned windows in 'a lovely quiet location, with nice gardens'.

A ‘stunning Jacobean building’ is, astonishingly, largely the creation of Victorian squire, parson and prolific author the Revd Sabine Baring-Gould.

Breakfast is served at a vast oak table in the Great Hall at this characterful B&B, occupying a 15th-century manor house on the Dyer family’s dairy farm.

All the bases are covered for a fun, relaxing family escape at this Jacobean manor house, which has a crèche, cinema, spa, pools, comfortable country house-style bedrooms, and formal and informal dining.

The 'spectacular views of the rugged coastline' over Bigbury-on-Sea's sands towards Burgh Island are what first impress about this former Edwardian holiday home, but guests also appreciate the 'inventive, tasty and well-cooked' food and the 'warm, jovial and friendly' owners.

An 'unpretentious country hotel charging reasonable prices' with 'excellent food' on the banks of the River Teign, dog-friendly Mill End sweeps into the main Guide on a wave of approval.

'It's ‘fiercely expensive’, but this Relais & Châteaux hotel in a chocolate-box village doesn’t stint on the traditional country house luxuries, drapes, stripes, sofas and chandeliers, florals, antiques, paintings.

You could be in rural France as you take a forest drive to this creeper-covered stone inn 'scenically situated in rolling fields in the Longleat estate', with tables and umbrellas under pollarded limes.