Whitehouse

Activities

• Stay put: the roaring fires, weekend papers, games and chest of DVDs invite you to hole up in winter. In summer play croquet on the lawn (ask the owners for a set)
  
  
• Indulge yourself: all guests get free membership to the Dart Marina Spa in Dartmouth (a 10-minute drive), which allows you to use the pool, gym, sauna and steam room. In-room massages at the hotel can also be arranged
  
  
• Cycle: there are a couple of bikes for guests to use to explore the nearby lanes and coastal pathways
  
  
• Go walking: the area stretching east from Salcombe has some of the loveliest coastline in England. Start from East Prawle (10 minutes' drive). The hotel has a selection of maps and you can ask for a picnic hamper
  
  
• Head to the beach. The famous Slapton Sands, with its village cream teas and 2-mile stretch of pebbled beach, is a couple of miles away. There's also Blackpool Sands (nearer to Dartmouth) - voted one of the cleanest, most beautiful beaches in Britain
  
  
• Dozing on the Dart, lovely Totnes combines New Age quirkery with centuries of history. Visit the 15th-century St Mary's Church, the 11th-century Guildhall and the healing waters of Leech Wells
  
  
• Hire a motor launch to explore the Dart Estuary (the hotel can arrange)
  
  
• Further afield you can explore glorious Dartmoor National Park with its rugged gorges, pretty reservoirs and tumbling rivers. It contains the largest number of Bronze Age remains in Britain, and is famous for its granite tors, home to the annual Ten Tors challenge