New Hall

Someone had a sense of humour when they christened this 800-year-old moat house with the New Hall title. Reputedly the oldest inhabited moated manor house in the country, it is nowadays an upmarket amalgam of medieval beams and flagstones, and 21st-century spa pampering with all the bells and whistles. After you have explored its 26 acres of fabulous grounds, head indoors, where pretty stained glass windows and a subtly updated neutral modern décor set the scene in the fine-dining Bridge Restaurant. The cooking is assured, and the emphasis is on good-quality ingredients brought together in creative combinations - perhaps peppered beef carpaccio with butternut squash and horseradish cream, followed by chicken served in a fashionable duo involving butter-roasted breast, and confit drumstick with shimji mushrooms and parmesan gnocchi, while ginger and green tea broth could accompany roasted skate wing.