KEN BENNETT offers a selection of cracking Christmas hotel breaks across the UK.

There is nothing better than letting someone else take the strain during the often stressful Yuletide activities.

A hotel break, including a chance to really chill out, will definitely give you quality time to have some well-earned fun with your family or friends. And there's a certainty no one will have to face a mountain of washing up afterwards!

Here is my selection of festive hotel breaks that could bring tinsel and tradition without the tears If you are gambler, guests staying two nights or more over Christmas at the Matfen Hall Hotel, near Newcastle, will get a free winter break if it snows on Christmas Day.

General manager David Hunter will make the decision about the weather at midnight on the big day, and slip a gift cheque under bedroom doors if it has snowed.

A two-night Christmas break at the hall which boasts golf and spa facilities and log fires costs from £320 per person sharing a twin or double room.

It includes all meals, mulled wine, carol concert and a torchlight procession to the village church. For information and bookings, tel 01661-855708 or click on www.matfenhall.com .

For a flutter of a different kind, the Yarn Market Hotel, Somerset, has a four-night half-board break with champagne Christmas lunch, walks and hawk demonstrations in the grounds of Dunster Castle. Check out www.yarnmarkethotel.

co.uk or call 01643-821425.

Alternatively, join a house party for just 30 guests at the stunning Elizabethan Combe House Hotel and Restaurant, near Exeter, where trees twinkling with fairy lights along the mile-long drive greet visitors.

Take a clotted cream tea in front of the Great Hall's crackling log fire on Christmas Eve, followed by champagne and a five-course candlelit dinner and entertainment.

Christmas Day starts with Bucks Fizz followed by breakfast. Lunch is a five-course gourmet feast with carefully selected wines. Boxing Day highlights include a treasure hunt and tea by candlelight in Combe's beautifully-restored Georgian kitchen and a magician and a glamorous, fun casino.

The three-night house party starts on Friday, December 24, and is priced from £895 per person for a twin/double room fully inclusive of accommodation and all meals, wines and entertainment. For information and bookings: 01404-540400 or www.thishotel.com.

The White Swan at Pickering, a beautifully restored 16th century coaching inn with a cosy house party atmosphere, roaring log fires and award-winning food, offers a traditional Yorkshire Christmas.

Festive three-night packages start at £449 per person from Christmas Eve to Tuesday, December 27, based on two sharing a double/twin room.

Christmas Eve guests are welcomed with tea and mince pies in front of a log fire followed by an early evening champagne party and gourmet dinner. The festive atmosphere will be boosted by visits from Santa Claus and a local group of carol singers during the evening.

Christmas Day starts with a glass of Buck's Fizz; a traditional lunch and a quiz evening. On Boxing Day, guests can chance their luck at nearby Wetherby Racecourse (£50 per person to include travel, entrance and picnic lunch) and in the evening enjoy a superb five-course dinner with vintage wines. Call 01751-472288 or www.white-swan.co.uk.

Capture the real spirit of the festive season by having a caricature portrait of yourself at The Royal Cambridge Hotel's festive break.

The hotel is just a short walk from King's College, Cambridge, where you may be lucky to attend their famous Nine Lessons carol service. Or you could absorb the fun of the local market with characters in costume and a hot chestnut seller.

The break includes a four-course dinner on Christmas Eve, five course Christmas lunch, mulled wine and a Dick Whittington pantomime visit on Boxing Day. For more information, call 01223-351631 or www.forestdale.com.

Meantime, Christmas at the 17th century Noel Arms Hotel, Chipping Camden, in the Cotswolds, will be full of Eastern promise.

A two or three-night festive break includes Christmas Day lunch and the chance to taste some contrasting flavours of the East at the hotel's renowned Oriental Restaurant on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day.

A two-night break beginning with afternoon tea on Christmas Eve and ending with full English breakfast on Boxing Day costs £320 per person. There's a traditional four-course lunch on Christmas Day and a buffet supper in the evening. A three-night stay, which includes a choice of menu for dinner, costs £450.

For information and bookings, call 01386-840317 or www.noel armshotel.com.

Christmas in Georgian Bath, minutes away from elegant crescents and squares, promises a true flight of fancy with a visit to see Mother Goose on Boxing Day.

The three night package, at the five-star Bath Spa Hotel, including the panto followed by a black-tie dinner with live music, costs £750. A two-night break (December 24 and 25) with all meals, costs £600 per person. Children under five sharing their parents' room stay free. Guests can also use the hotel's spa and indoor swimming pool. Call 0870-400-8222 or www.bathspa hotel.com.

For something completely different, spend your first Christmas in Hell at a hotel overlooking the Atlantic on the island of Bryher, Isles of Scilly.

The Hell Bay Hotel has a four-night Christmas break, (December 23-27, from £695 per person, which includes superior suite accommodation, full breakfasts, Christmas Eve dinner, traditional Christmas lunch and afternoon walks across the island.

Boxing Day is spent on the water with a boat trip to uninhabited islands, landing on St Agnes to visit its pub, plus a final evening of jazz, contemporary music and dinner. For information, call 01720-422947 or www.hellbay.co.uk.