Read the full list of the world's best 100 hotels in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, November

COWLEY MANOR, Cotswolds

Country hotels of the minimalist and modern type tend to be rather snobby, so discovering that one of the UK’s best feels like a slightly disorganised house party is a welcome surprise. An eccentric outpost in one of the Cotswolds’ less touristy hamlets, Cowley may be all manor house from the outside, but the interior is a curious blend of original wood panelling, ceilings powdered in fake starlight, papier-maché deer heads, and lime-green paint.

Rooms are firmly anti-chintz, with specially made, heavy wooden furniture and plenty of white linen; while the perfectly-kept, rambling grounds are peppered with funky, plastic sculptural furniture. Despite all this folly, the staff are firmly down to earth – dispensing hearty breakfast fry-ups with smiles and chatter. Arrive stressed, return home full of whimsy. Doubles from £245, B&B (01242 870900, www.cowleymanor.com).

The Sunday Times Travel Magazine - December

Britain's top 10 hotels for 2009

The Good Hotel Guide is about to reveal its favourites: The Sunday Times tested all 10

• Britain's 18 best family-friendly hotels

Britain’s top 10 hotels

The Good Hotel Guide reveals its favourite for 2008: we stay a night in all 10 under cover

• Britain's hip hotels

• Britain's best green hotels

Britain's hip hotels

Herbet Ypma's favourite stylish and quirky retreats

Related Internet Links

Related Links

• Britain's best dog-friendly hotels

• Britain’s best restaurants with rooms

• The best hotels for Christmas

PUNCHBOWL INN, Cumbria

Doubling as the local post office, this 17th-century coaching inn on the edge of the Lake District is one to write home about. Looking out over the Lyth Valley, it serves excellent food (save room for the rhubarb and custard tart with gingerbread ice cream) and has nine textbook posh-pub bedrooms: wonky oak beams, free-standing roll-top baths, and (underfloor-heated) limestone bathrooms. All this and a great young staff – book three months ahead for a Saturday-night stay. Doubles from £110, B&B, with afternoon tea (015395 68237, www.the-punchbowl.co.uk).

HARTWELL HOUSE, Aylesbury

Two minutes down the road from Aylesbury lies a retreat from reality: a 17th-century stately home set among thick woods and sweeping gardens. Now a plush hotel, Hartwell has eschewed the beige-and-Bose route with elegant rooms that are sumptuous, but wouldn’t intimidate your granny. With cavernous lounges and walking trails around the landscaped grounds, it’s all very Austen: squint and you’ll swear that’s Mr Darcy taking a dip with the swans in the lake. Doubles from £260, B&B (01296 747444, www.hartwell-house.com).

COMBE HOUSE, Devon

Everything at Combe, from its groaning oak door to its hushed Elizabethan Great Hall and Devonshire dairy-laced breakfasts, screams substance. But the best bit’s the sleep, thanks to the inky dark, silence and linen-dressed four-posters that could swallow a small family. Wake to a misty morning view of grazing deer with Dartmoor beyond. Doubles from £140, B&B (01404 540400, www.thishotel.com).

SUMMER LODGE, Dorset

Evershot village is a school-summer-holiday time warp – the kind of pin-drop place you stop for petrol en route to the coast. Here, Summer Lodge, a pale Georgian beauty, has plenty to halt those passing: 24 bedrooms and suites of swagged grandeur; clipped lawns; and a cosy, chintzy restaurant that serves local produce. Try the grilled Casterbridge beef – so juicy you get a rush. Doubles from £247, B&B (01935 482000, www.summerlodgehotel.co.uk).

Times recommends

• Oasis of the Seas: the Times review
• The 20 best new year party places to stay
• Green Spaces 2009: are you the winning writer?