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

Ideal for families: pool, tennis and golf at the hotel with beach and yachting nearby. Comfortable bedrooms and a terrace for outdoor dining

Elegant rooms behind a popular village pub with country walks from the door, and the spectacular Peak District and stately homes nearby

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

From the delicious scented garden with its limestone pool to the cool rooms with perfect linen, this is a place for a special occasion

Warmth and comfort on the Pink Granite Coast where the wind and waves lull you to sleep, and bedrooms overlook the cedars or the sea

Tradition and comfort on the border with Wales, a welcoming country-house hotel with warm rooms, pretty gardens and delicious food

This friendly, Scottish island B&B has the Atlantic at the end of the garden and air so clean the lichen grows like beards from the trees

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

An open-plan kitchen, sunny terrace and fruitful gardens shine at this private hillside villa. From here, it's easy to ski, swim or sunbathe

A lovely big house with huge riverside gardens and an easy-going charm – a 15-minute walk from bookish Hay-on-Wye

Very private and comfortable rooms with their own entrances at this generous B&B with glorious gardens and views to the Black Mountains

Breathe, relax in peaceful Provençal countryside: olives, lavender and budding fruit trees. Aix's lively markets are 10 minutes away

An impressive, south-facing bastide on three floors with a sunny pool, lovely garden and grounds that stretch to vineyards and garrigue

Sheep's Head Way is reputedly one of the best walks in Ireland. Come back to roaring fires, a Rayburn, art and style – terrific restorations

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

Stay a while... lulled by lapping sea and fragrant hanging gardens - cool, light, balconied, classic, intimate, unpretentious

In the gardens of a laid-back country house, a barn with books, games, faded rugs and a grand piano – a treat for convivial families