One aspect of British life that has improved immeasurably is eating out in hotels. Travellers who believe the country is going downhill should remember the days when surly waiters slapped down a watery bowl of soup followed by a gristly hunk of beef in a sea of overcooked vegetables.

Today, if you choose carefully, you can eat fresh local produce cooked with sophistication and presented with flair. Here is a selection of 10 hotels, gastropubs and restaurants-with-rooms that have won a deserved reputation for their cooking.

1 THE MASONS ARMS, Branscombe, Devon

This popular old inn is in the centre of a National Trust village (good cliff walks). Some of the bedrooms — which have antiques, beams and, in some cases, four-posters — are in cottages across the road. The chef, Richard Reddaway, uses local ingredients, including West Country scallops and smoked Dartmouth duck breast. Great breakfasts.

01297 680300, www.masonsarms.co.uk; 19 bedrooms; doubles from £75, B&B, dinner £25pp

2 THE MUSEUM INN, Farnham, Dorset

Delicious bistro-style cooking from Daniel Turner, in a warm, busy atmosphere, has made this 17th-century inn in a quiet village on the Wiltshire border a clear favourite with locals. Goat’s-cheese starter, spicy crab cakes, and rhubarb-crumble tart are among the bistro-style dishes served by cheerful Australian staff on wooden tables in the bar and, at weekends, in the former village hall. Ask for the best bedroom, General’s, with a four-poster and two balconies. There are smaller, cheaper rooms in converted stables.

01725 516261, www.museuminn.co.uk; eight bedrooms; doubles from £95, B&B, dinner £26pp-£30pp

3 THE HOWARD ARMS, Ilmington, Warwickshire

This 400-year-old pub, with thick walls, oak beams, log fireplace and flagged floor, is on the green of a village south of Stratford-upon-Avon. The bedrooms, upstairs, have antiques and artworks. The menu ranges from beef, ale and mustard pie to roast cod, spinach, potato and chorizo. Breakfast features delicious toasted home-made bread and strong cafetière coffee. In summer, meals can be taken in the garden.

01608 682226, www.howardarms.com; three bedrooms; doubles from £105, dinner £30pp-£40pp

4 THE YORKE ARMS, Ramsgill, North Yorkshire

The Michelin-starred cooking of Frances Atkins draws visitors to this creeper-clad old inn in a village in Nidderdale. (There is excellent walking in this designated area of outstanding natural beauty.) A main course of belly pork and pork loin with borlotti beans and tomatoes has been much praised. Other dishes that have been enjoyed include lobster with ravioli and Nidderdale lamb pie (from local fields). Sitting areas have flagged floors, settles and wooden tables. Bedrooms vary in size.

01423 755243, www.yorke-arms.co.uk; 14 bedrooms; doubles from £150, B&B, dinner £50pp

5 THE CASTLE, Taunton, Somerset

The owners, Kit and Louise Chapman, have a remarkable record in helping four chefs to acquire a Michelin star. The latest, Richard Guest, serves modern British cooking, such as baked organic egg with white-truffle cream, crispy duck with cranberry compote, and splendid British cheeses. The wisteria-clad, castellated building has elegant public rooms with tapestries and paintings.A wrought-iron staircase leads to bedrooms of varying size and style.

01823 272671, www.the-castle-hotel.com; 44 bedrooms; doubles from £217.38, dinner from £25pp

6 SUMMER ISLES HOTEL, Achiltibuie, near Ullapool

Sublime views over the sea match Chris Firth-Bernard’s Michelin-starred cooking in this “croft-style” hotel/restaurant. Almost everything you eat, from spiny lobsters and scallops to asparagus and venison, is locally grown or caught. The pudding trolley is “irresistible”. The bar, a friendly local, also serves good meals. Bedrooms range from smart in the main house to log cabin style, and there’s a boathouse suite.

01854 622282, www.summerisleshotel.co.uk; 13 bedrooms; doubles from £122, B&B, dinner £50pp; closed until April 1

7 LINTHWAITE HOUSE, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria

Simon Bolsover exploits local produce on his modern British menu, with dishes including Grizedale venison carpaccio, and slow-cooked feather beef with herb dumplings and hot pot vegetables. There are also memorable desserts and an excellent cheese list littered with regional specialities. The creeper-covered house, in private grounds, has views of Lake Windermere, with warm, welcoming public rooms sporting Edwardian décor and bedrooms of varying sizes.

015394 88600, www.linthwaite.com; 27 rooms; doubles from £168, B&B, dinner £46pp

8 THE FELIN FACH GRIFFIN, Felin Fach, near Brecon, Powys

Between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains, on a main road, this terracotta- coloured inn is nicely relaxed. The chef, Ricardo Van Ede, had a Michelin-starred restaurant in Amsterdam at the precocious age of 21. His dishes, served piping hot and stylishly presented, range from cep-mushroom risotto to roast partridge with muscat grapes and braised puy lentils. The bedrooms are simple but comfortable; decor is a mix of old and new. No residents’ lounge, but leather sofas round a fireplace.

01874 620111, www.eatdrinksleep.ltd.uk; seven bedrooms; doubles from £97.50, B&B, dinner £36pp

9 THE BELL AT SKENFRITH, Monmouthshire

A 17th-century inn facing the ruined castle in a tiny village in the wooded Monmow valley. The chef, David Hill, serves beautifully presented modern British dishes, using fillet of Brecon beef and Monmouthshire lamb with locally grown vegetables. Huge breakfasts include freshly baked croissants. The bedrooms (some are large) come with CD player, DVD player and internet connection.

01600 750235, www.skenfrith.co.uk; eight bedrooms; doubles from £100, B&B, dinner from £30pp

10 BALLYMALOE HOUSE, Shanagarry, Cork

The Allen family, led by the veteran Myrtle, have run this luxury Georgian hotel, famed for its cooking and its cookery school, for more than 25 years. It stands in large grounds, with tennis, a swimming pool, a five-hole golf course and ponds with ducks and geese. Guests like its “atmosphere of a cultured home”: paintings and books everywhere. Some bedrooms are in a Norman keep. The chef, Jason Fahey, delights visitors in the intimate dining rooms with his five-course dinners. A typical menu ranges from onion and thyme leaf soup to locally smoked fish and roast duck.

00 353 21 465 2531, www.ballymaloe.com; 33 bedrooms; doubles from £141, B&B, dinner £44pp

The Good Hotel Guide 2007 Great Britain & Ireland is out now, priced £18 (www.goodhotelguide.com)