The views take your breath away, the breakfasts are beautiful, and you feel like you're staying in the home of dear friends

You're right on the water in this 1820 granary-turned-hotel, with calming bedrooms, bustling bar and restaurant serving excellent local fare

Close to Girona, with huge valley views! Cosy fires for cool days, shady corners for hot ones, lovely people, and the food a revelation

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

Orchards and ducks, open fires, deep comfort in glorious Wiltshire countryside. Courtyard bedrooms and lovely big kitchen too

A perfectly romantic and gorgeously restored bothy in a garden on a hillside by the sea, with grand views over the mountains of Skye

Superbly renovated rooms in a famous town-centre inn at the heart of the Loire châteaux region, excellent food

Friendly host, Georgian elegance, welcoming sitting room and bedrooms, tasty breakfasts: the perfect city break in Scotland’s capital

Sweep along the gravel drive through lawns and specimen trees to this elegant manor house with 17th-century roots

A wisteria-laden pergola shades the sunny side of the farmhouse - in gentle olive country near the Sibillini Park, not far from the Adriatic

Smart, spacious house for 12 with great views over the family vineyard - arrange a tasting, walk the Cotswold Way, cycle the canal towpath

Dark skies and extensive views from this romantic hideaway cottage. Walk down to the loch, snuggle up by the wood-burner… a cosy retreat

High-up, simple apartments, pools with fabulous views; kids play-things and donkeys, the glittering coast, Rapallo and Portofino down below

Gorgeously rural pub with rooms nestled in a leafy Somerset valley: sweet bedrooms, fantastic menus, and charming owners. Dog friendly, too

Walkers and wild-lifers, here is your place in the Pyrenees. Colour, character, a welcoming family, log fires and delicious home cooking

In a small village on the borders, a Jacobean farmhouse luxuriously restored with lovely touches; the Brecon Beacons are close by

A light, bright village house with a courtyard garden - 5 minutes from Cabo da Roca where the sunsets and views are spectacular

A 16th-century timbered riverside inn with a relaxed, rustic feel, garden cabin rooms with views and fresh seasonal and homegrown food