It's the little details – such as the drawer full of chocolate bars in the Chocolate Room – that make the Wensleydale Heifer's themed rooms loveable rather than tacky. The knowing kitsch is extended throughout the old coaching inn – with other rooms done up to have horse-racing, movie and James Bond themes. The latter has a silhouette of a cow in a tuxedo on the wall.
The Heifer's also a cracking place to eat, particularly in terms of seafood, and it holds the Guinness World Record for the largest portion of fish and chips. Doubles cost from £120, B&B.
See www.wensleydaleheifer.co.uk.
Taking a different approach to the theming concept, Crab Manor has modelled each of its rooms on a different famous hotel from around the world. So you might be in an approximation of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Bird Island in the Seychelles, the Cipriani Palace in Venice or the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. The eccentricity extends far beyond the rooms, though – expect to encounter a yeti and suits of armour on the stairs, then hunt around the old manor house for the secret beer tap. Find it, and you can help yourself to a refreshingly gratis pint of the fizzy stuff. Doubles start at £160 a night.
See www.crabandlobster.co.uk.
There's something a little bit Downton Abbey in this castle – it's the Earl of Swinton's ancestral seat. But the vibe they're going for is more of an activity-packed country retreat. There's an incredibly long list of things guests can have a go at, from falconry and pony trekking to the in-house cooking school or bird-watching in the grounds. Archery lessons, a croquet lawn, paddling around the lake in a coracle and free kites to fly are among the other options to get you out of your room – some of which are in the turrets. Doubles cost from £165.
See www.swintonpark.com.
Instead of picking just one sort of tent for its take on posh camping, Camp Katur has seemingly gone for every design it could get its hands on. That means a choice between tepees, safari tents and "Hobbit pods" which look like cutesy cottages that have been shrunk in the wash. There are also "unidomes" – effectively rounded bubble-like cabins. The meadow hide one is covered in oak panels, but the woodland hide one has a transparent roof and walls for those who properly wish to sleep under the stars. Prices start at £45 a night.
See www.campkatur.com.
Also leaping aboard the kooky camping express is the Bivouac, which lies just outside brewing town Masham. A barn has been filled out with bunk beds to cater to groups and families, while eight canvas yurts stretch across the meadow. Designed with green roofs to blend into the landscape, they also have outdoor kitchens and baskets of wood for lobbing on the fire.
The third option is one of the woodland shacks, which are a short walk from the 18th century Druid's Tower folly, and pretty much everything inside them is carved out of wood. Decide for yourself whether that's an overdose… Two night stays cost from £160.
See www.thebivouac.co.uk.
In Whitby, a coastal town which revels somewhat in its Dracula connections, La Rosa throws itself into the melodrama with suitable flamboyance. A blue plaque on the wall indicates that this was where Alice In Wonderland author Lewis Carroll stayed while he was in town, and the individually themed rooms feel more like courtesan's boudoirs than lavender-drenched B&B stereotypes. Expect pink feather boas in the Sacre Coeur room, skull and crossbones motif shower curtains in the Crow's Nest room, and predictably dark, Gothic furnishing in the Bram Stoker room. Doubles cost from £86.
See www.larosa.co.uk/hotel.
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