The Restaurant at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, A Belmond Hotel, Oxfordshire

"The idyllic, 30-acre retreat has a kitchen garden, where vegetables are grown for the restaurant; a valley of wild mushrooms; an herb bed with 70 varieties as well as micro-herbs; an orchard stocked with more than 80 varieties of British apple trees; and a wildflower meadow"

"Helmed by top French chef Raymond Blanc, the on-site restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars soon after opening, in 1985, and has retained them ever since"

""The attention to detail is incredible" at chef-owned Raymond Blanc's "delightful" hotel and restaurant – "the place to go" in the Oxfordshire countryside to "be spoilt" with "exceptional" New French cuisine and "top-notch" service; "beautiful grounds" and gardens (where you can "see the vegetables and herbs used in the cooking") are more reasons why it's "well worth" the "long ride from London" and very expensive prices"

"The star attraction is the food, of course: both in the restaurant and in the extremely popular cookery school, which runs day and residential courses designed to improve the skills of budding Blancs… Once we’d hit the open (sort of) road after a slow crawl westwards on the A40, we got so carried away we completely missed the turn-off for Great Milton at junction seven"

"This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime extravagances that rarely fail to disappoint, although guests should be prepared to drop some significant sterling in the restaurant"