‘In darkness, with the sound of nature all around, we savoured Kayla’s home cooking’

From a homestay in Sri Lanka to a Cotswold manor house, your favourite hotels delivered perfect hospitality

We returned to our honeymoon hotel in Capri for our 10th anniversary. Newly married, in the 1980s, we had taken the cheapest room in the most expensive hotel we could afford. Now, we booked a lovely room overlooking the sea. On our anniversary night, when we arrived at the restaurant for dinner, waiter Gino refused to give us a menu and said the kitchen would choose. We were treated to seven courses of stunning Italian food, accompanied by different wines, and a cake with sparklers and candles.

The staff had remembered the date, as we had not mentioned it. When we checked out, we found we hadn’t been charged for our special evening. Marion Quarrington, Cambridgeshire

LOVE’S LABOURS

As an expat in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, I lived on a farm a good hour’s drive on a bad road from what was then Salisbury (now Harare). When my wife went into labour at 7.30 one evening, I bundled her into the car and made a dash for the capital’s Lady Chancellor Maternity Hospital.

We made it just in time and I was thrilled to greet my first son, but it was nearly 11pm and I had no wish to drive all the way back to my farm – so I went to the old Meikles Hotel and explained my predicament. Not only did they give me an en-suite bedroom, but charged me nothing and sent me up a bottle of Famous Grouse whisky along with a congratulatory note.

Mark Milbank, Dorset

A DREAM COME TRUE

On annual caravan holidays in North Devon, with small children and on a tight budget, we used to dream of staying at the Woolacombe Bay Hotel, right by the beach. Later in life, in June 2023, we saw that the hotel had a vacancy – so booked. The experience was sublime, from the gatekeeper’s greeting and the indoor pool to the dreamy poached eggs at breakfast.

As summer ended, we received a brochure offering previous guests the chance to return in the autumn at a special price. We enjoyed walks on the beach, autumn colour at the RHS Rosemoor garden, and superb hospitality. As the song goes: “The dream came true, quite unexpectedly!” Giles Godber, Devon

TO THE MANOR BORN

The Lords of the Manor in Upper Slaughter is a Cotswold stone hotel with an orchard, flower gardens and a lake. Our room was luxurious, as befits a manor hotel. Welcoming drinks on the lawn, in glorious sunshine, were a delight.

We strolled by the river Eye, through fields to Lower Slaughter – a pretty Cotswold village. Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourtonon-the-Water provided trips out.

Service at dinner was impeccable, and the restaurant had an understated grandeur. The cosy bar was perfect for a post-prandial nightcap. Throughout our stay, in June, we were utterly spoilt. Nothing was too much trouble. We last went there in May 2000, for a wedding, and our much-anticipated return was even more enjoyable.

Wiljo Salen, Cardiff

MOUNTAIN REFUGE

The hotel décor is heavy, verging on lurid, with dark wood, extravagant murals and settees covered in garish brocade. Rooms are OK, breakfast is acceptable and the staff are reasonably civil. But hotels in Lhasa, Tibet, are a means to an end, not the end itself. The Mandala Hotel, on Barkhor Square, is at the throbbing heart of Tibetan life.

You shuffle through the narrow corridors and ornate chambers of the Potala Palace, then join Buddhist pilgrims at Jokhang Temple, some circling the building in prostration. You see the lines of brass prayer wheels, inhale the aroma of yak-butter candles, then take a chilled drink up to the Mandala’s rudimentary roof terrace. Below are the crowded souvenir stalls, ahead stands proud Potala, and beyond – in the clear, thin air – the mountains. Let the culture shock sink in.

David Syme, Edinburgh

HEAD FOR THE HILLS

On our way from Cornwall to Scotland, we broke our journey in the Lake District and happened upon the shores of Grasmere, surrounded by wonderful mountains. We were tired and needed a bed for the night.

All the hotels looked posh and expensive, with driveways full of SUVs and Bentleys. We were on a budget, so we drove on quickly. Off the beaten track, we finally spotted a modest sign pointing to “The Travellers Rest”. It was a stone lodge perched on a grassy mound, with no view of the lake. We approached hesitantly and the door was flung open by a warm couple who welcomed us, took our bags and showed us into a bedroom overlooking the hills.

We had a great evening joining them for dinner, and they saw us off the next morning after a full English breakfast. That’s what we call hospitality.

Patricia Leckie, Buckinghamshire