Red Lion Hotel

At this smart cream pub they have their own herb and vegetable beds, keep sheep, pigs, chickens and bees, and source the rest of their meats from within 20 miles. Menus feature 6 dishes per course – supplemented by a selection of specials – and cooking is generous and satisfying. Smart, rustic bedrooms come with slate floors, sheepskin rugs and big, comfy beds.

Standing outside this whitewashed Georgian townhouse, you’re in a Hampshire market town; step inside and you’re in the heart of Spain. Barcelona-born Andres Alemany has brought all the authentic flavours of his homeland to the UK, along with a terrific buzz that’s entirely befitting of a popular tapas bar. The classics like boquerones and tortillas are executed with great skill and offered at a sensible price, while the blackboard menu of wood-fired specials allow you to push the boat out a bit. A good choice of Spanish wines serves to enhance the experience.

Within Heckfield Place – a Georgian country house hotel decorated with the owner’s extensive post-war British art collection – you’ll find this charming, orangery-style dining room looking out over a lake and parkland. Locality and seasonality drive everything they do here, with a great number of ingredients coming from the estate’s own farm; these are fashioned into light, clean dishes that rely on honest, natural flavours. Look out for anything based around the 'farm vegetables', which give you an opportunity to really taste the land.

Embedded within the Hampshire countryside, this attractively restored 18th-century inn offers the complete package when exploring the area. Outside is a market garden that supplies the kitchen and upstairs are stylish bedrooms named after game birds. You may find such birds on the seasonal menu too, which offers clean, controlled cooking utilising high-quality ingredients. If it’s on the menu, don’t miss out on the terrific Portland crab agnolotti with a deep, rich bisque. The friendly team offer warm, genuine hospitality that really puts you at ease.

In this lovely 15C red-brick house, chef Ben Piette and his wife Lornette found the ideal setting for their dream project. They live upstairs and have converted the downstairs to serve their guests, but view the whole thing as part of their home. The constantly changing surprise tasting menu features plenty of local ingredients in assured dishes which have a French base. Sit at one of just a handful of tables or book “Ben’s Table” in front of the open kitchen; here you can bring in your own ingredient which he will use to create an extra course. Lornette treats guests as if they were old frien