The Grange at High Oaks Grange

Sitting on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, with views across the Vale of Pickering, is The Grange. It’s a charming manor house that’s now a holiday home, sleeping up to 12 guests in six bedrooms, all of them en-suite. It’s the biggest and best accommodation at High Oaks Grange, where a collection of cottages, lodges and glamping pods occupy a 60-acre estate. The Grange brings the grandeur. It’s the original stone-built farmhouse with Georgian windows and a lovely outlook.

It’s big enough for you to bring family and friends together, including any four-legged ones, and has plenty to keep everyone busy. Not only is it in a great location from which to explore North Yorkshire and the National Park but the accommodation itself has a lot to offer. There’s a large swim spa and hot tub, a games room, a barbecue area outside and a well-equipped kitchen too. There’s a choice of spaces in which to relax, from the big sitting room with its log burner to a cosy snug. But it’s the upstairs which sets this place apart from your average holiday home.

Each of the six guest bedrooms has an en-suite bath or shower room and each has its own smart TV. It’s as comfortable and stylish as a boutique hotel. There’s a quiet elegance in the decoration, with light creams and greys, painted wood panelling on the walls, thoughtful bedside lighting and a few hints that you’re in the countryside. There’s the view outside the window, of course, and birds and botanicals, hares and antlers all feature lightly in the decor.

The real deal is just outside. Step out onto the deck or the front door and your view is south across the flat fields of the Vale of Pickering. The forests and the moors of the North York Moors National Park sweep away to the north. You can walk a mile through the countryside to the market town of Pickering or a mile in the other direction to the pretty village of Thornton-le-Dale. Both are worthy destinations, with pubs and shops, but pick Pickering for a good meal. You should also head to Pickering if you want to hop aboard a heritage train on the North York Moors Railway for the ride to Whitby on the Yorkshire coast. By car it's an easy half-hour drive.