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

Secluded place with home-grown food, much peace and walks by the river for a couple (or small family). Courses and solo retreats too

A restful space with a pretty garden in a quiet Derbyshire village - the pub a short stroll away and Chatsworth near

Elegance and ease mark this gentle group of Loire-Valley buildings, with soft-textured interiors and the owners’ fine hospitality and food

A light, spacious villa in the colonial style designed for easy indoor/outdoor living, with garden, pool and the beach just a short stroll

A smartly renovated village pub with rooms welcoming locals, visitors, families and dogs on a Staffordshire country estate

Fine contemporary interiors within this half-timbered hillside villa, built with natural materials and with a beautiful pool and jacuzzi

A wonderfully comfortable light-filled house with long views, a sandy beach to walk to, fabulous walking and wildlife and a superb kitchen

A traditional Welsh cottage perfect for a nature loving pair – stunning coastal walks, hidden coves, birdwatching and a crackling fire

Beautifully refurbished inn with good food, calming rooms and the South Downs all around. Chichester, Petworth and Goodwood are close

An artist's house imbued with an understated elegance. Stay for dinner; be charmed by the garden where fruit trees throng, hens loiter

Traditional accommodation and organic food; handy for Bari but set peacefully in the countryside near Toritto, famed for its almonds

A pretty retreat in the grounds of a romantic château – you have your own walled garden, with terrace, pool and sunbathing area

A dramatic transformation of an old shepherd's cottage deep on a remote hillside in Perthshire farmland with masses of space and light