A stunning château with huge rooms, pretty balconies with views, peaceful garden. Super owners, excellent dinners - and child-friendly too

Birders will love escaping up here, golfers too - visit Hatfield House, Knebworth, Cambridge - come back to a good local pub and a comfy bed

A serene restaurant-hotel on Chesil beach, with a perfect view of the big blue sea. How restorative can a hotel be?

High in Ávila's unspoilt nature is this stylish, eco-brilliant family hotel: mountains, massages, pool, organic dinners... a special escape

An important spot for this grand 19th-century château on the banks of the Loire, steeped in history and with kind, erudite owners

Sun-soaked stillness, saltwater dips and garden scents of fig and rosemary - slow days unfold between olive trees and a sky full of stars

Very relaxed B&B at this 17th-century country house just 5 minutes from the perched village of St-Paul-de-Vence and 10 from the sea

A pretty stone single-storey house, now renovated beautifully into a comfortable hideaway with wonderful views to woodland and river

A Victorian farm steading cleverly repurposed as an open-plan holiday home with bright, colourful interiors, deep in the Perthshire hills

A charming 17th-century cottage in a quaint village with views and the owners' pub, farm shop, Wellness Barn and brewery just a short walk

A gorgeous house with oodles of original features, a lovely garden and the owners' pub, farm shop, brewery and spa a short walk

Italian style marries Californian comfort, with views over hilltop towns, vineyards and the majestic Sibillini mountains beyond

A modern, architect-designed renovation of a 19th-century building, sitting in harmony with nature yet only a short drive from Bordeaux

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

Elegant Victorian townhouse just between Kings road and Fulham Road. Chatty breakfasts with a friendly host - Suzie has the latest info on all things arty

A natural idyll made even better by friendly owners. Bask in the mountain views, explore astonishing Asturias, settle into the slow pace

A traditional Welsh cottage in a very pretty, rural setting with the river meandering past, the stunning coastal path and beautiful beaches

A beautiful old farmhouse, carefully renovated with great authenticity and charm, surrounded by other farm buildings and a walled garden