In a ‘wonderful setting’ on the shores of the Solway Firth, Graeme Lamb’s hotel affords spectacular views across the water to Hestan Isle and the peaks of the Lake District.

You can take the ferry from Oban, or hop across on a twin-propeller plane, to discover Jane and Alex Howard’s 18th-century inn, bar and village hub, on a hillside overlooking the harbour.

'A real star, we enjoyed our stay,' enthuse Guide regulars, who visited several hotels on either side of this year's Scottish cruise. 'It was by far our favourite.'

‘A very special place,’ say guests in 2019, of Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge overlooking the Irish Sea. ‘The accommodating hosts went out of their way, more than once, to ensure we had a terrific time.'

Set within a comfortable expanse of wooded acreage, the Macdonalds’ ‘fabulous’ country house is run in ‘an efficient but relaxing way’.

‘What a delightful place!’ Surrounded by a widescreen landscape washed with ever-changing light, this thoroughly Orcadian, ‘extremely welcoming’ restaurant-with-rooms is run by the hands-on Doull family.

‘They make you feel welcome and at home’ at Sally and David Ruthven-Fox’s dog-friendly hotel ‘by the shores of Loch Sunart and surrounded by hills’.

'A wonderful and special place from which to explore this magical island.'

‘Excellent food’ and a ‘lovely’ welcome await visitors to Tim and Patricia Martin and Neil King’s former manse overlooking the Maldivian-blue seas and sugar-white sands of a bite-shaped cove.

In a beautiful location overlooking the Sound of Vaila, on Shetland’s remote west coast, this 18th-century laird’s house, altered and extended, offers a home-from-home experience.

‘A comfortable and friendly base,’ writes a trusted Guide reader and first-time visitor to Susannah and Stuart Macpherson's ‘really lovely’ Highlands hotel.

With ‘wonderful views from the terrace, and handy for the ferry terminal’, Leslie and Margaret Crane’s hotel looks out across Oban Bay to the isles of Lismore and Mull.

‘Our stay at William and Sonia Marshall’s delightful small country house could not have been bettered,’ wrote happy readers. ‘We so enjoyed their warm, friendly, personal service.’

'Derek and Celia are skilled and charming hosts. We cannot speak too highly of them.’ Warm approval this year from a Guide reader, for the Kitchingmans' restaurant-with-rooms in a converted Victorian tweed mill.

Sit on the decking at this former 17th-century coaching inn overlooking Loch Glendhu, and watch basking seals – or supper being landed on the old ferry slipway.

There is whisky galore on this Inner Hebrides island; bonhomie in the bar of this friendly hotel.

‘In the most beautiful position, with sea, islands and mountains in full view,’ this former Victorian piermaster’s house stands ‘right on the shores of Loch Linnhe’.

Lang may the lums reek at this remote restaurant-with-rooms on the shores of Loch Dunvegan. After 34 years, Shirley and Eddie Spear have moved on, but all is well.

Beyond ‘splendid wrought iron gates’, a ‘beautifully wooded half-mile drive’ leads to Paul and Poppy Szkiler’s towered and turreted Victorian pile, with a fountain ‘dominating the forecourt'.

‘The very-much-in-evidence hosts, Scott and Stephanie Meikle, have transformed this remote property into a “restaurant-with-(very-well-equipped-and-designed-)rooms”.’

‘A rare combination of relaxed professionalism, with high standards from Angus and Jane Fordyce, made us feel very cared for.’

'Stunning hotel, stunning views.’ A reader this year endorses John and Sylvia Matthews’s restaurant-with-rooms in an Edwardian manor house overlooking the Tweed valley

A lofty glass-fronted, cedar-beamed extension creates a cathedral of light, drawing visitors to this B&B in a former surgeon's house set amid two acres of gardens and woodland on the fringe of the Highlands.

A 17th-century coaching inn at the head of Loch Shiel is run as a hotel and well-regarded restaurant by Ina and Kieron Kelly.