Arden Hotel; www.thearden hotelstratford.com

Barnsley House; www.barnsleyhouse.com

Landmark Trust; www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Royal Shakespeare Theatre (including booking via the box office) and Company; www.rsc.org.uk

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; www.shakespeare.org.uk

Note: Rural boutique hotels can be pricey, and most qualify as a short-stay splurge. For some more gently priced rooms in the Cotswolds consider Cotswolds 88 in Painswick (www.cots wolds88hotel.com), the Chester House Hotel in Bourton-on-the-Water (www.chesterhouse hotel.com) and Fosse Manor Hotel in Stow-on-the-Wold (www.fossemanor.co.uk).

RAPHAEL KADUSHIN