One was for dinner at an excellent restaurant, the other for an overnight stay at a lovely country house hotel.

It's always been a class act; indeed, as far as all-enveloping luxury country house hotels are concerned, it's undoubtedly one of the very finest.

Tudor Towers, a marvelous old "bath house" hotel, now houses a good Maori museum.

The house is now a four star country house hotel and golf resort.

Hotel description: A luxurious, country house hotel, privately owned and located in four acres of beautiful landscape gardens, just a short stroll from the historic city of Bath.

Carse Loch and the Friar's Carse country house hotel are located nearby.

Kilworth House is a four star country house hotel, located west of North Kilworth, Leicestershire.

A traditional country house hotel, with colonial-style furniture and ornaments and the genteel atmosphere of an Agatha Christie novel.

Discover some of France's finest country house hotels, upmarket B&Bs and luxurious private villas.

The "Beat Hotel" was a typical European-style rooming house hotel, with common toilets on every floor, and a small place for personal cooking in the room.