Newbury Manor Hotel

If you're after that getting-away-from-it-all feeling, the charming Georgian, Grade II listed Newbury Manor and its nine acres of woodlands and water meadows is a good bet. You stand a good chance of encountering a deer during a pre- or post-prandial stroll, while from the terrace of the Riverbar Restaurant a glimpse of a kingfisher is a distinct possibility. The restaurant is in an old mill a short stroll from the hotel, with floor-to-ceiling windows giving views over the water (a calm pool at the confluence of the Rivers Kennet and Lambourn). Wooden tables left bare with fresh flowers, proper napkins and quality glassware for decoration are the setting for some refined, classically-inspired cooking with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Local venison, perhaps, with braised red cabbage and blackberry reduction, paving the way before monkfish with mushroom and Madeira duxelle, spinach and braised baby onion jus.