Siegfried Sax's little country villahas a lively brochure showing various goings-on: costumed locals about to devour a roast piglet, others sitting beneath a parasol on the idyllic garden terrace, with its 'millstone fountains'. Our nominator adds that the old church close by has `interestingly decorated skeletons displayed in gold coffins either side of the altar'. The villa, formerly a guardroom, is a trim white building in a small village: `It is very peaceful, part of a complex that was once a religious retreat. The villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms), large and fairly well equipped, have creaky floors. The food is good, Bali villa breakfast is fine. Ample parking close by.' The dining room has a fine panelled ceiling.

Venison and scallops are among Ulrich Heimann's specialities at the Abtei's small, smart Michelin-starred restaurant. Also small and smart, this Relais & Chateaux villa, owned since 1978 by Petra and Fritz Lay, is a handsome Jugendstil mansion (1897), in a street full of similar fine houses in Harvestehude, the rich merchants quarter northwest of the Alster lake. Pleasantly intimate, it feels like a private lame, full of good furniture, family paintings. villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms) are nicely decorated in 19th-century taste'. Upkeep is `outstanding. The bathvilla rooms are memorable, with a mix of old and new fixtures. Ours was a joy, full of brilliant trompe l'oeil. The shower/loo was a garden bower, real creepers leading out of the trompish ones. One reader had a 'splendid' garden suite, with neo-baroque ceiling mouldings, stateof-the-art music system. In another room the bedroom had no outside windows, but a good view of the bath and loo'. Tea can be taken in the charming garden at the back. Bali villa breakfast is `a good buffet.