Warm interiors, pretty bedrooms and excellent breakfasts – good value in a very handy central spot

A light-filled, modern house with wonderful sea views through vast picture windows stretching all the way to St Kilda on clear days

Old meets new in Benoit’s charming villa with courtyard pool, breakfasts to linger over and all the fun of La Baule on the doorstep

A humdinger of a pub, hidden in a sleepy village in the Surrey Hills, oozing character and charm and with delicious food and comfy bedrooms

A chilled, family-friendly hotel on a sandy surfing beach with huge views and a sensational pool with sustainability at its heart

A colourful place to stay, tucked into the courtyard of this stunning estate, with views across the Pennine fells, deer park and lake

This fine old Dordogne house is run by well-travelled owners, has superb views and is a luscious mix of old charm and contemporary design

A small, delightful hotel, perched on a high hill within a 14th-century convent with stunning views, garden and pool - very special indeed

Steeped in history and romance, with a great big sleigh bed and open fires, is this 14th-century defence tower above the river Tweed

Come for the gorgeous, wild North York Moors and this very pretty 1911 stone cottage in the grounds of an elegant manor house

Set off on blissful walks, trek home to crumpets and tea. There’s no better place to escape the 21st century than rural Devon

This lovely, beamy, uncluttered Tuscan farmhouse with separate apartment is an elegant lodging on a vast fruitful estate with pool, and lovely owners

A converted 19th-century church in the Northumberland National Park with beautiful stained-glass windows and a restored tower

A small, quirky country house hotel with lovely staff, pretty rooms and heavenly food served in a pillared dining room

An old sporting lodge in Argyll renovated with sensitivity – fish in the river, gaze at the night skies, climb Ben Udlaidh

A lovely wisteria-clad inn in a traditional Cotswold village with grand walks, a pretty garden, tasty food and thoughtful bedrooms

A deliciously rural stone house with charmingly simple rustic-chic interiors and saline pool - an hour from Perugia