Brandshatch Place Hotel & Spa

Past winners at the Brands Hatch circuit include Hunt, Stewart and Mansell, but the nearby namesake hotel has stood amid Kent countryside since long before the invention of the internal combustion engine - 1806 to be precise. The Georgian manor is these days a luxurious country-house hotel, with a smart spa and a restaurant that has made a bit of a splash in the area. The understated elegance of the dining room adds to the appeal, with views of the garden and smartly dressed tables bedecked with flickering candles and flowers. Regional produce figures large on the menu of broadly modern British dishes; start, perhaps, with a red onion and Golden Cross goats' cheese tarte Tatin with a beetroot dressing, before a main-course pan-fried black bream with roasted salsify, parsnip purée and red wine shallots, finishing with warm treacle tart with vanilla ice cream.