The scene is pure theatre: the Scottish baronial mansion, built in 1834, with turrets, chimneys and crow-stepped gables, stands against a backdrop of Loch Awe. Inside, owner Bennie Gray, an antiques dealer, has filled the place with ‘eccentricity’ and ‘a pleasingly old-fashioned air of country house grandeur’.

‘Pretty well perfect’, Toby Ashworth’s seaside hotel on the Roseland peninsula, founded nearly 30 years ago by his grandmother, continues to please.

‘What a fab place,’ say Guide inspectors in 2016, who arrived on a jolly quiz night at Sue Burdge’s ‘wonderful’ village pub-with-rooms.

There’s ‘birdsong in the air’ and ‘a great atmosphere of peace’ at this ‘glorious’ country house hotel, in large gardens descending to the River Wye, say Guide inspectors.

Once thought of as the most beautiful Regency house in Scotland (it was designed by Aberdeen architect Archibald Simpson), this ‘wonderful’ luxury hotel is owned and run by the Matheson family.

‘Warmth exudes’ from the Reynolds family’s ‘happy’, ‘comfortable’ small hotel: ‘They obviously know exactly how to make the place tick.’

In the centre of a ‘handsome’ market town, this characterful town house hotel, formed from a row of diverse buildings, is made lively with modern colours, bold wallpapers and a collection of more than 400 gins from around the world.