Short stay: Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa, Nantwich, Cheshire, UK

Two centuries on from its naming as Rookery Hall, the rooks still fly over 38 acres of grounds, waddle across the terrace and perch on the handsome Georgian mansion built back in 1816.

Yet, there is an air of the Loire valley to this grand sandstone and grey slate property. When Baron Von Schroeder purchased the estate in 1867, he grandly decided to give a French flavour to the property adding a tower that would have looked at home on a French chateau. Though the grounds are those of the quintessential English country house, a classic retreat. Wisteria and white roses grow on the terrace trellis. A fountain plays by the side of the croquet lawn, green pasture leads down to the banks of the River Weaver. Beyond the river this is a rural land of black-and-white…