Overlooking a bay on the Argyll coast, Calum and Rachel Ross’s ‘friendly, good-value’ country house, next door to the exotic Arduaine Garden, is in ‘the most stunning spot’.

‘Happily, as good as ever,’ writes a Guide reader this year, revisiting Graeme Lamb’s ‘well-run’ hotel on the Solway Firth, where the views stretch across the bay towards the hills of Cumbria.

Alight from the ferry on this unspoilt island, and chances are that Ivan Lisovyy, the ‘can-do’ manager of Jane and Alex Howard’s unpretentious 18th-century inn, will be there to greet you.

‘A treat of a hotel.’ ‘It has never failed us,’ say regular guests of this ‘exceptionally pleasant’ 1840s dower house by the beautiful, wooded Pass of Killiecrankie.

‘Everything is presented with care and style’ at Sally and David Ruthven-Fox’s small hotel on the ‘peaceful shores’ of Loch Sunart.

Arrive to a complimentary glass of champagne, at Laurence and Katie Mackay’s Victorian country house hotel on the Isle of Mull.

‘Everything is done with a smile and a bit of banter’ at Jean Urquhart’s ‘warm and welcoming’ bookshop-with-rooms, formed from a clutch of whitewashed cottages in this old fishing village.

‘It’s a spectacular drive’ to this whitewashed manse in an ‘extraordinary setting’ on the west coast of Harris.

Friendly, folksy, ‘comfy and unpretentious’, Gill and Archie MacLellan’s ‘terrific inn’ stands in ‘a glorious location’ on the shores of Loch Fyne.

The peacocks in the ‘fantastic grounds’ are but a hint of the exotic style of local restaurateur James Thomson’s characterful hotel next to Royal Holyrood Park.

Steeped in stories of baronets and scandalous affairs, Susannah and Stuart Macpherson’s ‘beautiful Georgian house’ is today a ‘simply lovely hotel’ standing in extensive gardens ‘magnificent with mature trees’.

Watch for roaming deer as you follow the ‘long, attractive drive’ to the Milligan family’s Victorian country house on the banks of the River Tay.

Soak in the ‘great, cosy, country-pub atmosphere’ at this log fire-warmed waterside inn, where even the resident whippet is an ‘affable character’.

In ‘one of the wildest and most beautiful locations’, Tanja Lister and Sonia Virechauveix run their small hotel with ‘informal warmth’.

Nick and Nikki Horne run their ‘top-class hotel’ in a ‘fantastic location’ on the shores of Loch Linnhe, where the ‘beautiful vista’ stretches across the water to the islands and beyond.

Three bay-fronted Victorian terrace town houses come together as one ‘civilised, very satisfactory’ hotel within walking distance of Princes Street and the National Gallery.

‘Talk about off the beaten track!’ Scott Meikle and Stephanie Graham’s ‘little jewel of a hotel’ stands at the end of the road, amid a vast moorland wilderness of lochs and lochans.

There are whisky and castle trails to strike out on, but begin, perhaps, with a stroll around the Matheson family’s ‘lovely’ mansion – ‘the grounds are wonderful,’ say Guide inspectors in 2017.

‘A winning example of the small “hands-on” country house genre’, the Fordyce family’s 18th-century manor house on the Solway coast is ‘charmingly run’ with old-fashioned joie de vivre.

A ‘cosy spot’ in a remote position overlooking Langass sea loch, Amanda and Niall Leveson Gower’s family-friendly former sporting lodge is ideal for guests in search of fresh air and ‘fabulous views’.

Patricia Watt’s rural hotel on the Cowal peninsula faces green fields close to the shoreline where cattle once crossed the water to the Isle of Bute.

In walking country, this Edwardian stone house, originally built for a mill owner’s bride, is today a fine small hotel owned by Sylvia and John Matthews.

On a single-track road that traces the wild coast of the Knapdale peninsula, Clare Johnson and David Wilson’s unassuming, red tin-roofed cottage houses an award-winning and ‘thoroughly enjoyable’ restaurant-with-rooms – ‘our favourite’, say regular Guide correspondents this year.

‘Old-fashioned in the best way’, the Harrison family’s ‘lovely, eclectic guest house’ on the shores of Loch Ewe is run by ‘friendly, informative hosts who make a real effort to ensure every guest is taken care of’.