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

Spend restful days in a verdant garden, slip into the cooling pool, sip wine on your private balcony, stroll into arty Benissa

Once a coach house, now a split-level place to stay – you can walk to the river and it's just a short hop to central London

A hugely seductive and stylish special place - with magnificent views, pool and bikes, vineyards and hilltop villages to visit

Bedrooms with terraces and views over St Michael’s Mount Bay. Explore the gardens; walk from the door to glorious beaches

A welcoming country-house hotel that’s popular with locals and visitors alike - good food, stylish rooms and an airy restaurant wait

A snug Snowdonia bolthole arranged around a vast boulder, once home to Victorian artists inspired by the setting. For romantic hikers

A lovely old 19th-century inn by the sea with hand-pumped ales, fresh local and seasonal food and spoiling bedrooms, some with sea views

A cracking English inn with open fires, great food, gorgeous rooms, happy staff, lovely gardens and well-kept English ales

Chocolate-box cottages in deepest Normandy, owned by bright young things with a passion for organic cuisine and the good life

An ivy-covered old mill, newly restored as an inn with a relaxed feel, acres of manicured grounds, comfortable bedrooms and great food

A really well thought-out escape for a small family with children. A big garden, pool, petanque court and play barn for indoor fun

This hidden valley is the dreamiest part of South Devon. Catch the ferry across the Dart; gaze on the hills; snuggle up by the wood-burner

Glorious views across Northumberland countryside from this peaceful and comfortable cottage with almost an acre of garden

Great staff, beautiful design, a fine old building and sublime food make this 600-year-old inn a perfect escape all year round

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

Come for your own wing in this beautiful Grade II listed farmhouse with a warm, relaxed vibe, lovely owners and delicious breakfasts

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