14 THE COOKIE JAR NORTHUMBERLAND
WHY? It had us at Cookie Jar (and you actually get free homebaked cookies in a jar in your room), but we also like the setting (in a former historic convent in the pretty town of Alnwick). Plus it has bags of charm, including a cute new secret garden. The 11 bedrooms are so big they look like they belong to a posh London apartment building (Chapel has a stained-glass window, huge sofa, beams and copper bathtub). Alnwick Castle’s a stroll away, and don’t leave without trying the crispy pork in the Bailiffgate Bistro.