Talbooth House & Spa

Dedham Vale is Constable country in the literal sense — the painter grew up a few fields away and returned to the Stour valley for most of his working life. Talbooth House stands on a rise above it, an Italianate villa the Milsom family have run as a hotel for decades and which carries a 4 AA Red Star rating.

There are only twelve bedrooms, each decorated differently, and the scale keeps things informal. Outside there is a heated pool with a hot tub and a log-burning fire beside it, a tennis court looking down the valley, and a day spa offering Elemis treatments. Canoes, paddleboards and bicycles can be arranged for the river and the lanes.

Dinner is a short courtesy-car ride away at Le Talbooth, the timber-framed restaurant on the riverbank that has been the family's flagship since the 1950s, or more casually at Milsoms. Flatford Mill, Dedham village and the Suffolk coast at Aldeburgh are all within reach.