Hotel Grand Mercure Basildene Manor (Margaret River, Australia)

This is the sort of place which offers everything you could wish for. It is a magnificently restored manor house with public areas that include comfortable reading rooms with roaring fires. It defies you to find fault in any aspect. There are just 17 rooms here, so highly personalised service is guaranteed from members of staff who, in all departments, are friendly, efficient and top of their game. Service is beyond compare.

Breakfast choices are absolutely superb and the stunning views from the breakfast room are the best way imaginable with which to herald the start of a new day.

Gardens are superbly landscaped and it appears, intricately manicured using nail scissors! Main features include a tennis court and outdoor heated pool.

Rooms can be quite small and in a place where many services are second to none, it’s strange that you can only access Wi-Fi in the reception area; not in the rooms.

When phoning in to the hotel, it isn’t unusual for your call to go un-answered. After a while and for reasons best known to the owners, you are eventually transferred to somewhere entirely different. Unnecessarily frustrating!

For most, a stay here is a special and very expensive treat. You expect the ultimate, but don’t quite get it. Bathroom toiletries are in frugal supply when they should really be generous. Absolutely everything should be included; even slippers. It's a minor blip but they aren't supplied.