Good service follows mate to grand homes (7)
I believe the answer is:
palaces
'grand homes' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'good service follows mate' is the wordplay.
'good service' becomes 'aces' (I have seen 'excellent service' mean 'aces' so perhaps 'service' could also mean 'aces'. I am not sure about the 'good' bit.).
'follows' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'mate' becomes 'pal' (I've seen this before).
'aces' put after 'pal' is 'PALACES'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for palaces that I've seen before include "kings and queens here?" , "Royal residences" , "Offical residences of sovereigns" .)