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

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

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

A rustic and elegant farmhouse retreat in Provence with a pool, vineyards and wildlife-filled pond – a launchpad for the Luberon

An unbelievably stunning setting for this renovated 15th-century villa with garden on a hillside overlooking the famed Florence skyline

You’re wrapped in parkland here and close to the coast, gardens and war memorials. A treat of a stop-over for foodies

Explore country markets, churches and châteaux - return to a gite in private parkland with an artist's studio on site, and a blissful pool

An expansive and generous 13th-century Catalan farmhouse, restored with verve and colour in the Pyrenees - a wonderful spot for groups

A rural haven in a lovely garden with comfortable bedrooms, brilliant breakfasts and bikes for hire – explore the Parque Natural

This is Somerset at its most quintessential: a thatched roofed, honey-coloured Hamstone cottage with a pretty courtyard garden; sleeps four

A delightful mix of old and new in a conservation village with a four-acre garden that attracts all the local birds. Guests love it here

Step into the valley region from this beautifully restored 17th-century house surrounded by saltwater and freshwater canals and lakes

Your very own château in the Dordogne for big family get-togethers and special celebrations

If you need a great place in which to relax and don’t want to pay too much for it, try these excellent suites, which spoil you all the way

A relaxed and stylish hotel on the Norfolk coast with an impressive restaurant, sumptuous bedrooms and super staff

Rural retreat, far from the madding crowd. Laze by the infinity pool and take in the views. Inside all is calm and stylish. Stay a while

A beautiful rural escape for couples or families with the delights of the Cotswolds all around. Dogs very welcome too

A scrupulously renovated dog-friendly gate lodge with garden and outdoor dining area, a five-minute drive from Mount Congreve Gardens