Best hotels where real log fires burn

The lure of the log fire is powerful in dreary January. The smell of wood smoke, the warming flames and the sense that cold and darkness are safely locked out lift the spirits.

Some hotels do their best to beguile us with flickering gas fires, but they can't beat the real thing. And now is bargain time with hotels only too pleased to receive visitors in the slough between New Year and Valentine's Day.

Here is a choice of hotels which welcome their guests with a traditional log fire.

Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, near Corwen, North Wales (01490 440264, www.tyddynllan.co.uk)
Price: £130-£150 per person (based on two sharing a double room) for a two-night break including breakfast

The logs burning briskly in the Victorian grate disappeared almost as quickly as the home-made biscuits and tea when we arrived cold after a long journey.

Peter Kindred, who bought the near-derelict hunting lodge with wife Bridget 20 years ago, once designed sets for television dramas such as Wuthering Heights, The Mayor Of Casterbridge - and Fawlty Towers. But this hotel is no Fawlty Towers. Peter, who looked on the project as a screen set, said: 'I never thought we'd end up as hoteliers.'

Now the Georgian house is snug with squishy sofa and chairs in front of a drawing room fire. The good-quality bedrooms, one with Victorian bath, are unostentatious and comfortable.

Pictures, many painted by Peter, line the tongue-and-groove walls of the handsome dining room. Tucked away near the service door hang three plates bearing three rosettes - prized awards for good food. Breakfast is well up to the high standard set by dinner. The beautiful vale of Edeyrnion is just the place for a real country escape.

Calcot Manor, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire (01666 890391, www.calcotmanor.co.uk)
Price: From £200 per person (based on two sharing a double room) for a two-night break including breakfast and £30 a night towards dinner

The neatly stacked logs in the stoneflagged vestibule and unmistakable wood smoke tang as you walk through the fine oak door are promising.

Flowers and magazines in the drawing rooms are fresh, furniture is unshowy, high-quality country-house style. At 5pm on a cold winter Friday, members of a large family group, comfortable around the log fire in the first drawing room, were, depending on age, drinking tea, Coke or whisky.

The conservatory dining room is spot-on. Fresh, charming and informal, both it and the light and cheerful bistro - with open fire - are exactly right for this former stone farmhouse set round a courtyard of picturesque, ruined 14th Century barns and stables. Bedrooms are quietly luxurious, family rooms are exceptionally good.

Prestonfield House, Priestfield Road, Edinburgh (0131 668 3346, www.prestonfieldhouse.com)
Price: From £158 per person (based on two sharing a double room) for a two-night break including breakfast and dinner

It's the best of all worlds. The beguiling charm of an eccentric country house - family-owned Prestonfield was built in 1687 for Lord Provost of Edinburgh Sir James Dick - and the comfort of new, top-quality bedrooms.

Walk across the black-and-white marble-tiled hall into a small bar where the first of four log fires, homely gold upholstered sofas and deep window seats create a snug atmosphere.

Upstairs, flames from logs burning in the magnificent fireplace in the Tapestry Room flicker theatrically over the hangings on the dark-green walls. The fire in an adjacent room highlights fruit and flowers embossed on the dark red leather-panelled walls.

Food is good traditional Scottish and French. This art gallery of a house, with important paintings collected by the Dick family on the Grand Tour, lies in 13 acres of parkland a few miles from central Edinburgh. An unusual base for those wanting a city-centre break.

The Feathers, High Street, Ledbury, Herefordshire (01531 635266, www.feathers-ledbury.co.uk)
Price: £131-£160 per person for a two-night break (based on two sharing a double room) including breakfast and £19.50 towards dinner

Every now and then, one of the regulars got up from the old leather Chesterfield and, just as if he were at home, threw a log on the fire. Generations of farmers and townspeople have met and done business in this blackand-white Elizabethan coaching inn. Masses of beams, an array of copper preserving pans, the squeakiest floors in Christendom and the ghost of a young woman combine to make this the perfect country-town inn.

The furniture is a wonderful mix of antique and time-worn English and chunky pieces from the Far East. The wardrobe in our room was like a Catholic confessional box. The pool in the new spa centre was a blessing.

Unspoilt Ledbury, with its stunning black-and-white buildings, is ideal for a winter break.

Ockenden Manor, Cuckfield, West Sussex (01444 416111)
Price: From £130 per person (based on two sharing a double room) for a two-night break including breakfast and dinner from the Cuckfield menu

The dining room felt Victorian - panelled walls, two portraits and handpainted, 19th Century ceiling. Would dinner be as traditional? No. It was superb, carefully cooked in the modern way. No wonder there is a chef and a consultant chef. Breakfast was as good.

Comfortable Ockenden is like a French hotel where food sets the standard. Built in the 1500s, it has been added to over the centuries. Bedrooms range from the enormous master room where there must surely be secret cupboards behind the magnificent panelling, to high-ceilinged and comfortable rooms added in the 1990s.

A fire burns in the hall, another in the sitting room. This large, light and longwindowed room has a reassuring, timeless quality. The nine-acre garden with views across the South Downs is superb; Cuckfield a delightful village. Perfect for those looking for good food in a Michelin-starred restaurant, tradition and comfort in a quintessential English setting.