Rectory Manor, Lavenham, Suffolk

The hotel is in a good location if you're travelling by car and want to get away - but not too far away - from it all, in a pretty village in southern Suffolk, close to the tourist towns of Lavenham and Long Melford and just a short drive from the multiple delights of Constable Country. The historic Suffolk wool towns are on your doorstep, the most impressive of which is Lavenham, which has more timbered buildings than you can shake a timber at.

By car: About 1 hour and 45 minutes from London on the M11. Around 2 hours and 45 minutes from Birmingham on the A14. There is free parking at the hotel.

By train: The closest station is Sudbury and trains run there from Marks Tey on the London to Colchester line. A taxi from Colchester takes around 30 minutes. Book trains to Sudbury.

Rectory Manor's ambience is that of an upper-class home in the country, with family portraits on the walls and trinkets and family photos at every turn. You can relax and tickle the ivories of the grand piano in the book-lined lounge, where there's a fire in the grate. Help yourself to a drink from the well-stocked honesty bar.

The presence of Tom the butler means that service is as attentive and immediate as you want it to be, while the facilities include croquet, tennis and a swimming pool that's open through the summer, so not bad for a B&B.

• Outdoor pool
• Sauna
• Pet-friendly
• Croquet lawn
• Tennis court
• Breakfast
• Free parking

• Free Wi-Fi

The three main house rooms are fairly traditional in style but with quirky touches - like the Baroque ceiling of a Roman church as the headboard of the bed in one - while those in the stables are more contemporary, with reproduction tapestries and more bespoke, arty headboard prints and large walk-in showers.

Room types: Classic, Superior, Deluxe, Grand Deluxe, Suite and Four Poster

Key amenities: Ensuite bathrooms with Penhaligons or Gilchrist and Soames toiletries, tea and coffee-making facilities, free Wi-Fi

The only food on offer is breakfast, excellently cooked and served by Tom at a beautiful medieval table. You have to pay extra for this - an odd notion in somewhere that calls itself a B&B - but they do a good Full English and have a well-stocked continental buffet.