Our inspiration for creating a certain kind of locally inspired, design infused hotel in the country derives primarily from the tradition of the country house hotel in England and its Irish cousin. Not the dark country house hotels of the past, but light-infused, color-rich properties of a type you now find inhabiting the landscape in an easy-going way all across the U.K. Below are a few of our current favorites.

It must be something about Britain's small scale--and thus the relative proximity to London and its population--base that make this possible economically. Some of the finest in recent years can be found across the southwest, from Somerset to Dorset and Cornwall. Each of the best of these doesn't forget where it is in the world even as it puts forward design to savor. And great food is never lost in the equation!