Swinton Park, Masham, North Yorkshire

You're a mile outside Masham and its famous breweries, and sitting between Nidderdale and Wensleydale, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. In the other direction, the A1(M) is 15 minutes' away. The mansion sits in 250 acres of gardens and woodland, so there are no neighbours to disturb the views. Take a brewery tours in Masham or head to the Dales for walking. 20 minutes south is Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal's water gardens.

By car: Swinton Park is 1 hour from Leeds, 2 hours from Manchester and 4 hours 20 mins from London. There is plenty of free parking on-site.

By train: London Kings Cross to Thirsk station (via York) takes around 2 hours 50 mins. The hotel is a 30 minute taxi ride from the station. Book trains to Thirsk Station.

The imposing, ivy-covered building with turrets, towers and castellations, is a sprawl of vast rooms that are thick with marble fireplaces, plasterwork ceilings, polished wood floors and huge windows. Furnished in traditional English stately-home style - wing armchairs, gilt-framed portraits, heavy furniture, elaborate curtains - it's grand if rather dark and heavy. By contrast, the new-build spa wing is light and sleek.

There's no time to get bored, apart from the spa and pool, activities include horse-riding, fishing and golf plus there's a cookery school and birds of prey centre. For quieter relaxation, there are woodland walks (drying room and wellies to borrow), a billiard room, and a swathe of reception rooms plus a terrace.

• Bar
• Two restaurants
• Spa
• Indoor and outdoor pools
• Grounds
• Kitchen garden
• Pet-friendly
• Free parking
• Free Wi-Fi

Rooms are either big or very big with views of gardens or parkland and furnished in traditional stately-home style with bright wallpapers and curtains, and a mix of antiques and reproduction furniture with the odd piece of contemporary.

Room types: Knights, Barons, Dukes, Earls, Suites, Signature Suites, Swinton Cottages

Key amenities: ensuite bathroom with walk-in shower and bath, hairdryer, robes, slippers, tea and coffee facilities, TV, free Wi-Fi

There's a choice: fine-dining, three-AA-rosette meals in the main building's ornate restaurant, with elaborate dishes such as poached poussin in hay butter with alliums and pomme purée, or a bigger-choice Modern European menu in the spa wing's Terrace Restaurant which includes a Josper grill. Both use Swinton estate farms and kitchen-garden produce.

Samuel's Restaurant: fine dining, inventive British cuisine, produce from the estate. Open for dinner Thurs-Sun and Sunday lunch. Three courses £60pp, Sunday lunch £35pp.