Denbies Vineyard Hotel

For the sort of relaxed, rural wine retreat you’d find in France or Italy, you need to head for the gorgeous rolling hills of Surrey – and specifically Denbies winery, England’s largest single-estate vineyard. Their Vineyard Hotel spreads across an original 1850s farmhouse and a newly built wing, where 17 en-suite rooms look out over the landscaped grounds and surrounding vines. It's a fabulous, dog-friendly getaway, set on an extensive estate – so quite apart from the wine attractions, there are country walks, trails and bike rides right from your door (with bike hire on site), even though you're just an hour from central London.

The hotel is nicely set apart from the main vineyard complex and its guest rooms are light and contemporary – mostly warmly furnished doubles (all with king-size beds), whose windows open onto beautiful views of regimented vines marching off into the distance. Colours throughout pick up the vineyard tones, plus there are Smart TVs, coffee- and tea-making facilities and eco-toiletries in the bathrooms from the French vineyard, Caudalie. Meanwhile, the adjacent Health and Wellbeing Centre offers a range of classes and treatments, from massage to pilates, so a relaxed country escape is very much on the cards. Two family rooms (with sofa bed) can be interconnected while five ground-floor rooms in the adjacent annexe are dog-friendly, which means beds, bowls, towels and treats for your four-legged friend.

For breakfast and evening meals and drinks, look no further than the hotel's bright and modern lounge and restaurant, which offers classy, orangery-style dining and more of those sumptuous vineyard views. It's an indoor-outdoor space, with an outdoor terrace terrace and cabana-seating in the garden, brunch and bubbles options, food and wine pairings and tastings. An English summer never seemed more Mediterranean.

The winery has other daytime dining options if you're staying on site, and this in fact is where Denbies excels as an all-in destination. They produce a million bottles a year here, so you wouldn't want to come and miss a wine-tasting tour, for example, or indeed a ride through the vines on the little covered road-train between April and October, and of course there are lots of opportunities to walk and cycle. Beyond the grounds, you can walk to the local market town of Dorking or head out on to Box Hill for quintessential English country views.  And then back for another glass of something crisp or sparkling before the deepest of sleeps in England's premier wine region.