Weeke Barton

Weeke Barton is the ultimate Londoners' escape from the big city, since that's exactly what its owners, Sam and Jo, did several years ago, when they threw it all in and moved down here from trendy east London. It's a long way from Hackney, for sure, a big, thick-walled stone longhouse that has been here 500 years and they hope will be here another 500, still providing the kind of place any London escapee would be happy to pitch up at.

You can rent the whole house if you want – either catered or self-catered – but to most Week Barton is a thoroughly contemporary B&B, and a very comfortable one at that.  Sam and Jo are terrific hosts and there is a studied naturalness to the place that almost enforces relaxation – stylishly decorated rooms with big comfy beds and natural stone en-suite bathrooms with locally made posh toiletries, fluffy towels and robes; a lounge with squishy sofas, a wood-burning stove and books and magazines; and a dining room with slate-topped tables where they serve a civilised-hours breakfast (with their own Dartmoor granola) and excellent home-cooked dinners 4 nights a week from spring to autumn (Monday & Friday in winter). There's wifi throughout, and a cosy snug with an honesty bar offering everything from sparkling wine from the vineyard next door to local gins and Dorset vodka!

The property is set in its own five acres of grounds so there is plenty of room to properly relax and enjoy the amazing night skies. On sunny days you can breakfast on the patio before strolling the grounds. There is free wifi and Sonos music systems, but interestingly no TV reception – just flatscreen TVs on which you can watch a choice of DVDs from their extensive library. There's also a local pub that does decent food, and dogs are welcome in all rooms if you can manage to keep them off the beds. All in all, it's a fabulous place from which to explore Dartmoor or to just kick back and relax.