It must be tough, these days, being an independent hotel. How on earth do you keep up with your clientele? There we all are, flouncing about in our designer denim and feathered haircuts, educated by a hundred magazine articles to expect the very latest in fiddly taps and flatscreen technology every time we check in to a room for the night. The pressure to upgrade constantly must be overwhelming, the cost prohibitive.

But, of course, we don’t all want fiddly taps and flatscreens. Sometimes other things are important – like service and good food, and a room that doesn’t cost several hundred pounds for the night.

Cue The Good Hotel Guide. It focuses entirely on the smaller, independent, family-run properties in Britain and Ireland, and in doing so bangs the drum for a style of hotel-keeping that ultimately has far more value than the latest design concept.

This is its latest list of 10 properties to have earned a coveted César award, plucked from the 2008 edition, which is published tomorrow. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been to stay in every one, to check that the GHG-ers are doing their job, and I have to say I’m impressed. There’s one dud – and as a group they seem more expensive than in previous years – but if you’re planning an escape to somewhere gorgeous this autumn, and need a place to stay, you’d do well to book one of them.

GASTROPUB OF THE YEAR
The Lord Poulett Arms, Hinton St George, Somerset

My gripe with gastropubs is simple: they’re the Hyacinth Buckets of beer, awash with pretensions. So my heart sank when I pulled into Hinton St George for the night. It’s the kind of honeystoned village where you can be sure they take the annual flower and produce show very seriously indeed. Lovely in its way, but surely the local was going to be much too proper?

Thankfully not. The 17th-century Lord Poulett is no Tankardland theme park.

There are good, honest barrels of local ale behind the bar, and cider is poured straight from the jug. Granted, the flagstone floors and beamed fireplaces have been poshed up, and there was Farrow & Ball paint on the walls, but this is definitely not a pashminaed pint.

The room: ours was well furnished, with a large leather sleigh bed and a rolltop bath tucked into an alcove. They’d provided a Tivoli radio, but not a television. That was available “on request”. There was advice, too, about better things to do than watch the box. Thanks – and can you remind me to floss my teeth, too? 7/10

The food: the menu is short and Mediterranean-inspired, supplemented by exotic dishes such as tempura of king prawns udon. My spicy nine-vegetable soup with homemade crème fraîche (£4.50) was delicious: so, too, the pork tenderloin with sautéed potatoes and green beans in a honey-mustard dressing (£11). 9/10

The service: friendly and painstaking. 9/10
Value for money: 8/10

Does it deserve its César? Yes. Lets hope it encourages other gastropubs to concentrate on beer rather than bling.

Details: 01460 73149, www.lordpoulettarms.com; doubles from £88, B&B.

HISTORIC HOUSE OF THE YEAR
Moccas Court, Moccas, Herefordshire

“The hotel inspector told us we’re the most expensive B&B in Britain,” said Mimi Chester-Master, topping up my G&T at Moccas Court.

At £195 for the dearest double, I could believe it, too. But Mimi and her husband, Ben, are offering something I haven’t encountered in any hotel before: not just the look and feel of 18th-century ancestral England, but the chance to live the landed lifestyle for a weekend.

Their house is extraordinary: a pink-brick Georgian pile, set in its own Capability Brown parkland, on a remote meander of the River Wye. After a riverside stroll, one takes predinner drinks with the Chester-Masters in their gilded library. Their son, Jake, trots by in his pyjamas to say goodnight, then it’s through to the domed dining room for Ben’s locally sourced, skilfully sauced cooking, enjoyed house party-style around a communal table.

The room: high ceilings, wide beds and enough fresh flowers to scent an entire storey. 9/10

The food: breakfast is faultless, dinner (by arrangement and £35pp) refined. 9/10

The service: informal, in an aristocratic kind of way. 8/10
Value for money? 8/10

Does it deserve its César? Gosh, yes.

Details: 01981 500019, www.moccas-court.co.uk ; doubles from £140, B&B.

GREEN GUESTHOUSE OF THE YEAR
Y Goeden Eirin, Dolydd, Gwynedd

I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to this one. “A green guesthouse?” I muttered. “Will I have to pee into a compost heap instead of a loo?”

I needn’t have worried. Yes, Eluned and John Rowlands, the retired couple who run Y Goeden Eirin, make an effort to be environmentally responsible – they’ve coated one roof with solar panels, and will pick you up at Bangor or Porthmadog station if you’re not bringing a car. But their small, three-room property – set between Snowdonia and the sea – is memorable chiefly for its sense of style and its Welshness. John used to teach the Welsh language at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, and even his atlas is in Welsh.

The room: our room was set in a spacious, purpose-built annexe at the back of the main house. Usually, I’m not a fan of annexes, but this was lovely – laid with a beautiful black-slate floor, and furnished with an Arts and Crafts feel. The bed was the best bit – I slept for 10 hours. 8/10

The food: home-cooked on the Aga, and served in the main house. Good value at £25pp for four courses. 7/10

The service: friendly, but not intrusive. They should keep the dog on a tighter leash,House though. 8/10
Value for money: 10/10

Does it deserve its César? Yes – it’s a classic of the GHG genre. Hall Cashel

Details: 01286 830942, Hou www.ygoedeneirin.co.uk; YGoedenEirin doubles from £70, B&B. PlasTan-Yr-Allt

RURAL IDYLL OF THE YEAR
Yalbury Cottage, Lower Bockhampton, Dorset

It certainly looks the part: a low-slung range of thatched cottages, not far from the house where Thomas Hardy grew up. The food is good, too. At £34 for three courses, the classic French-accented cooking of the chef, Ben Streak, is a steal.

The rooms, sadly, were less idyllic. The pine furniture looked cheap, as did the tiny portable TV. It didn’t feel especially rural, either – unless the inspectors were referring to the creepy-crawlies that populated its more secluded corners. We found cobwebs behind the TV and a snail by the radiator.

The room: ours was in a modern, functional extension at the back, and felt unloved. All the necessary amenities were there, but you could say that of a motel chain. A motel room might have been better cleaned, too. 5/10

The food: the best bit, by miles – strong on local ingredients (Lyme Bay scallops, Cracknell Farm duck), and cooked with a sure and delicate touch. The low-ceilinged acoustics of the dinner room are awkward, however, and everyone spoke in whispers for fear of being overheard. 8/10

The service: efficient rather than charming. 7/10
Value for money: leaving aside the food, 5/10

Does it deserve its César? Not quite.

Details: 01305 262382, www.yalburycottage.com; doubles from £112, B&B.

LONDON HOTEL OF THE YEAR
The Capital, Knightsbridge

To begin with, the meal was all that mattered. The Capital’s restaurant has two Michelin stars, so we weren’t really bothered what the room was like – it was just a place to get changed in before bolting downstairs for dinner.

We weren’t disappointed by the food. Well – only by the amuse-bouche, which must have been prepared by an assistant who didn’t know when to stop with the salt. Everything else was superb, up to and including the suggestions for wine from the sommelier. In the end, we were a little sorry there was nothing official to celebrate – this was a special-occasion experience.

We returned to the room, purring, and were still purring the following morning – until I got the bill. It was £600.76 for one night for two people, of which £367.80 was bed and breakfast. Suddenly, everything else about the hotel mattered very much.

The room: for the price, it was small and disappointingly old-fashioned in style, furnishings and decor. At least the bed was big and firm, and made with high-quality linen. 6/10

The food: three courses (with several surprise extras in between) cost £55, and were worthy of their stars – though the undersized dining room doesn’t do the cooking justice. It’s a problem with all the public areas in the hotel – they feel starved of space. 8/10

The service: a well-trained League of Nations. But – the sommelier aside – they didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves much. 7/10
Value for money: dinner 9/10, hotel 6/10

Does it deserve its César? Yes, but only because of the restaurant.

Details: 020 7591 1200, www.capitalhotel.co.uk; doubles from £335, room-only.

WELSH COUNTRY HOUSE OF THE YEAR
Plas TanYrAllt, Tremadog, Gwynedd

This bit of coastline is best known for Portmeirion, the high-camp holiday village that starred in The Prisoner. And teaming my visit there with a stay at “Tanny” felt entirely logical.

Squeezed under a crag above the Glaslyn estuary, the hotel is whitewashed, cottagey and stoutly Snowdonian. Inside, however, things get more theatrical. The scarlet-painted hallway features Percival the talking parrot and Philippe Starck chairs, as well as a larger-than-life welcome from the owners, Michael Bewick and Nick Golding.

The couple saved Tanny from dereliction and have made a stylish job of marrying classy country-house and boutique touches – especially in the dining room, where you eat en famille around a fabulous refectory table (a three-course set dinner costs £35pp). For me, Nick’s guinea fowl alone was worth the 400-mile round trip.

The room: spacious, well equipped and chic, in a Country Living way. 9/10

The food: breakfast is imaginative, too. Welsh laver bread on love-heart toast, anyone? 9/10

The service: superjolly. But meal times could feel awkward if you don’t like talking to strangers. 9/10
Value for money? 9/10

Does it deserve its César? Yes.

Details: 01766 514545, www.tanyrallt.co.uk; doubles from £115, B&B.

COUNTRY HOTEL OF THE YEAR
Hipping Hall, Cowan Bridge, Lancashire

Cumbria and north Lancashire are now foodie hot spots: Orton was voted national farmers’ market of the year in 2005, artisan cheesemakers seem to lurk in every barn, and there are now four hotels in the Lake District with Michelin stars.

Clearly, Hipping Hall would like to join the club. It’s tucked under the moors at Kirkby Lonsdale, a little way from the national park, but its young owner, Andrew Wildsmith, is aiming at the same audience. The foursquare 17th-century house in which it’s set has been given a cool and contemporary makeover, and the restaurant is a painstaking and serious-minded enterprise. It has only been going for a couple of years, but, on the evidence of this visit, Hipping Hall’s ambitions should soon be realised.

The room: ours was at the front of the main house, and was a little small – largely because such a big bite had been taken out to create the bathroom. I’d have preferred the proportions reversed. Still, it was well equipped, and the bed was made with wonderfully posh linen. 7/10

The food: The chef, Bruno Birkbeck, is a man of talent. Seared foie gras, served with quail’s breast and a Sauternes jelly, was a conversation-stopper, right at the start of the meal. Every other element was excellent, and the dining room is airy and spacious. 9/10

The service: a young, charming and self-assured team. 10/10
Value for money: 9/10

Does it deserve its César? Yes, and a Michelin star, too.

Details: 015242 71187, www.hippinghall.com; doubles from £215, half-board

SCOTTISH GUESTHOUSE OF THE YEAR
The Dower House, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire

The Good Hotel Guide describes it as a “cottage orné” – and crikey, it isn’t kidding. Figurines fair miaow and trumpet from the mantelpieces; Highland cattle and Chinese princesses peer down from every wall; it has Persian rugs, mini Ming vases and a baby grand in a room that feels more salon than dining room. Antiques Roadshow would have a field day.

If anything, outside is even more orné than within: monkey puzzles mix with bamboos and willows, a goldfish pond hides next to the veg garden and miniature orchard, clematis and ivy tumble from the gables. If it all sounds a little fussy for the Highlands, believe me, it works, with the look and feel of a much-loved, carefully crafted Dunroamin’.

The room: cute, cosy, Marie Antoinette-meets-Kent country cottage with Highland summit views – though she, like me, might have pined for a bath (available in other rooms). 7/10

The food: “gutsy and much-liked”, said The Good Hotel Guide, and it’ll get no quarrel from me. The smoked haddock and quail’s eggs came with rocket and leeks straight from the garden, while a splendid wood pigeon was so locally sourced, the owner, Mena Aitchison, mused that it might yesterday have perched on the cottage’s slate roof. 8/10

The service: a touch more reserved than The Good Hotel Guide’s “warmly welcoming” verdict suggests, but friendly and helpful nevertheless. 8/10
Value for money: 7/10 – knock a fiver off the dinner (three courses £38), throw in a bath, and I might even give it a 9.

Does it deserve its César? Oh, yes. It’s a miniature treasure chest. Details: 01463 870090, www.thedowerhouse.co.uk; doubles from £120, B&B.

COUNTRY-HOUSE HOTEL OF THE YEAR
Cashel House, Cashel Bay, Co Galway

The Celtic Tiger may be roaring, but you can’t hear it out in Connemara. The din of wind and waves – and sudden, apocalyptic rainstorms – is much too loud for that. Treeless, underpopulated and strung with appalling roads, it seems immune to the impact of Ireland’s recent economic miracle. Which is, of course, exactly how most visitors like it.

Cashel House is in many ways the perfect perch from which to explore the area. An immaculately preserved slice of old Ireland, it crouches in a hollow, sheltered from the wind – and, as a result, the gardens are an explosion of growth and colour. Inside, they could spend a little on some new carpets, and firmer chairs in the dining room, but it is spacious, with several roaring fires and a warm welcome.

The room: No 41, if you’re taking notes, and I recommend it – a bit frilly and fussy for my tastes, but enormous and well equipped, with lovely views onto the garden. 8/10

The food: seared scallops were good, but not the bed of limp and slimy pasta on which they were served. The Connemara lamb was better. Best of all were all the vegetables from the garden. I could have eaten an entire pot of their peas. 7/10

The service: Mrs McEvilly held court at dinner, and did it with style and charm, instinctively knowing what subject to pick (with me, it was the peas, of course). The staff were well trained, if a little overshadowed by their boss. 8/10
Value for money: 8/10 – dinner, however, was overpriced at £39pp.

Does it deserve its César? Yes ... though it is not quite a match for the best of the British hotels this year.

Details: 00 353 95 31001, www.cashel-house-hotel.com; doubles from £133, B&B.

RESTAURANT WITH ROOMS OF THE YEAR
West Stoke House, West Sussex

I very nearly didn’t get in. Rowland and Mary Leach, the owners, have cleverly got a civil-marriage licence for their newly renovated country house, and they’ve had a busy summer. It was fully booked for weeks. Thank goodness I made it – because, of all the César winners this year, West Stoke House is the most complete package: not just a restaurant with rooms, but a lovely place to stay, even if you don’t do dinner, and a great base from which to explore Chichester and the lush countryside beyond. Even the fancy-taps brigade will love it.

The room: called French Grey, it was made up with an eclectic and interesting mix of antiques, lush modern fabrics and a high-tech TV. It was vast, too – and there’s no greater luxury in a hotel room than space. 9/10

The food: dinner (£39 for three courses) was a great success. I thought my Gressingham duck with buttery savoy cabbage was the highlight. Until the pear soufflé came along. 9/10, and it would have been 10/10 if they’d spoilt me with some amuse-bouches in between.

The service: confident, charming. 9/10
Value for money: 9/10

Does it deserve its César? Certainly.

Details: 01243 575226, www.weststokehouse.co.uk; doubles from £110, B&B.

Walter F Stowy’s car was provided by Hertz (0870 599 6699, www.hertz.co.uk); weekend rentals in the UK from £60. He flew to Galway as a guest of Aer Arann (0800 587 2324, www.aerarann.com); returns from Luton from £76.

Sunday Times readers can buy The Good Hotel Guide 2008 Britain & Ireland at £17.50, including p&p, discounted from the retail price of £20. Write, fax or e-mail with cheque or credit-card details to: The Good Hotel Guide, 50 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QP; tel/fax 020 7602 4182; e-mail goodhotel@aol.com. Alternatively, order online at www.goodhotelguide.com

Times recommends

• The posties' guide to Britain
• New Orleans: the complete guide
• The 10 best pedicures in London