A stunning château with huge rooms, pretty balconies with views, peaceful garden. Super owners, excellent dinners - and child-friendly too

Three luxurious apartments sleeping up to 10 people altogether, set within an elegant Georgian manor house in the Wye Valley AONB

Boutique hotel next to Funchal’s 15th-century cathedral, with a champagne and lobster bar, rooftop cocktail bar and an excellent restaurant

For lovers of tranquillity and simple pleasures with a private pool, tennis court, stunning views and forty acres to explore

A 15th-century hotel and spa with beamed lounges and two restaurants, standing proudly on the high street

Slow living at its best from this delightful spot - a site of Local Historic Interest - with stunning sea views, restful gardens and pool

Artistic souls will like it here, and those who enjoy shared meals & getting to know other people in dramatic countryside; Arezzo is 40 km

Cakes from the host & eggs from the hens. Bring a party, bring the dogs, and soak up the history from a very fine house in the Cotswolds

Gorgeous rooms and splendid breakfasts – for sybarites, history-lovers, cyclists and canoeists - bang in the middle of ancient Long Melford

Unadulterated elegance awaits at this gorgeous, ancient Tuscan house with large marble swimming pool, stunning gardens and dreamy views

Walkers, bikers, families and nature fans will love staying with ever-helpful Joan and Montse in this secluded but not too remote valley

An elegant solution to a hotel - no rooms, but 13 charming villas in the heart of the maquis, nearly all with a private pool

A peaceful retreat in an unspoilt woody corner of Sussex. Bring dogs and children for fabulous walking on the South Downs Way

A Renaissance farmhouse in a secret Welsh valley with a stunning garden. Sleep under soaring beams, enjoy peace and warm hospitality

Find beauty and tranquillity on this historic Dordogne estate for up to fourteen - plus a feast of designer colour and a fine pool to share

Outside a perfect bastide village, an elegant manoir for lazy days in the Dordogne, fabulous dinners and glorious gardens

Glorious views of Derwentwater and Skiddaw from this comfortable house. Art dotted about, a big table for chatty meals and a pretty garden

An oast house B&B surrounded by countryside and with a blooming garden; walk to the village pub, drive to nearby stately castles