The Best Hotel in Buxton, Manchester, Liverpool, and the Peak District

Now part of the same group as the Buxton Crescent Hotel, this property overlooking the ornate Buxton Opera House occupies a refurbished 16th-century building claiming to be England's oldest hotel and rumored to have once accommodated Mary, Queen of Scots. Rooms are individually decorated in a classic style; a couple have four-poster beds. The Cockerel Wine Bar is popular with theatergoers, who stoke up on its hearty dishes; there's also a more formal restaurant on-site.