Ducks glide on a pond and guests take tea in front of this beautifully proportioned Queen Anne-style mansion in a hamlet between the Cotswolds and the Mendip hills.

Amid gardens, native woodland and meadow, this 16th-century manor house is today a family-friendly hotel and spa with contemporary comforts and a choice of formal and informal dining.

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.

Close to Westonbirt arboretum, this Cotswold stone Fuller’s hotel in gardens and woodland, has an easy charm, a relaxing bar and drawing room, interesting bedroom choices and varied options in the restaurant.

A through-the-looking-glass sort of place, this hotel playfully inverts the traditional country house theme, with bold interiors created for new owners the Experimental Group.

A charmed ‘village within a village’, this collection of honeyed buildings houses chic rooms surrounded by pretty gardens, with outdoor pool, spa, cookery school, bar, and short, modern menus of country produce in the Ox Barn.

Fiona Shiner’s family-owned vineyard, winery and B&B are surrounded by the green fields of the Stroud valleys.

A Tudor manor house in the Cotswolds just across from Cheltenham Racecourse, this hotel set in 90 acres is both family and dog-friendly.

It’s no wonder that Ian and Chrissie Carling’s hotel is so dramatic inside.