Your host runs home and B&B with effortless efficiency and you'll find shiny, spotless rooms to retreat to after a day's exploring

A beautifully renovated lighthouse with stunning views from the lantern room. Pretty bedrooms, great walking and fabulous breakfasts

A 15th-century Venetian palazzo, lovingly restored with stylish rooms overlooking the Grand Canal and a designer's insight into the city

Welcome to a dreamy fortified castle, once owned by French royalty, the perfect place to stay for history lovers and comfort seekers

5 houses near Siena to make design-lovers happy; come for the rural solitude of ancient stone farm buildings with urban interiors

Family-friendly hotel on Ullswater with a pool and a variety of bedrooms, some super-cool - swim in the lake, walk in the hills, eat well

Feather pillows, welcome goodies, an extensive batterie de cuisine... the hosts are super generous, the views are to die for

Cool, airy villa with Lake Como glistening below. Beautiful terraces and garden, plunge pool - and chilled prosecco and cake to welcome you

A grand, 16th-century Breton château complete with dovecote, turret and chapel surrounded by 50 acres of parkland, woods and small lake

Come for a sense of complete peace surrounded by country and coast with wonderful interiors to boot – a bolthole for two (plus two)

Settle in, relax, enjoy the local food - walk the dramatically beautiful coast path, explore rich West Wales from this handsome old house

Refurbished pub in a village high in the hills of the North York Moors, with stylish rooms and unpretentious food using quality ingredients

A really friendly French family home, steeped in history and tradition with delicious home-grown food, a lovely garden and peaceful pool

Cosy Lakeland stone barn in acres of peaceful countryside for walkers, wildlife lovers and those wishing for a retreat

A serene atmosphere prevails in this old Yorkshire stone inn, carefully curated to induce a zen-like calm. You're fed very well too

Immerse yourself, luxuriously, in beautiful rural Picardy – mirabelle jam, peaceful parkland, walking in the hills – near historic Amiens

An hour from Edinburgh, this large estate wrapped in ancient woodland & steeped in history is a super outdoorsy retreat – dogs welcome too

This famous old country house might not come cheap, but where else can you splash out in such decadent style for life’s big celebrations?