‘Highly, highly recommended. We shall return.’ Much praise from a reader for this ‘wonderful little boutique hotel’ with ‘delightful’ views across Loch Linnhe and the Morvern mountains.

Amid its own grounds of lawn and woodland, on the shores of Loch Sunart, Sally and David Ruthven-Fox run a welcoming small hotel.

‘This is not just a good hotel but a very good hotel.’ High praise this year from a trusted reader, for every aspect of the hospitality at Lord and Lady Macdonald’s historic former hunting lodge on the Isle of Skye.

Approached by a private road, this ‘large, rambling but wonderful’ late Georgian mansion, in ‘magnificent grounds’, is owned and cherished by Susannah and Stuart Macpherson.

‘The best hotel break we have ever had’ was enjoyed by visitors this year to William and Sonia Marshall’s Victorian villa.

Grey seals loll the day away along an old ferry slipway on the shores of ‘wild, beautiful’ Loch Glendhu – the ‘superb setting’ for ‘hands-on, energetic’ Tanja Lister and Sonia Virechauveix’s ‘most enjoyable’ small hotel.

Famous distilleries, ‘lovely walking trails’ and trout-rich lochs are within easy reach of this traditional Scottish country hotel, an Islay fixture for over 150 years.

‘We felt comfortable and well fed,’ report readers, following a stay at this remote restaurant-with-rooms overlooking Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.

Mellow sandstone battlements, turrets and towers are revealed only at the final turn of the ‘lengthy’ drive through the ‘vibrant, meticulously tended’ grounds of Paul and Poppy Szkiler’s 19th-century baronial pile.

Merchant Richard Oswald, Cavens’s original owner, helped negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris – now this ‘charmingly run’ Georgian manor house attracts modern-day visitors in search of serenity.

‘A place in the ascendant,’ say our inspectors of Sylvia and John Matthews’s Edwardian mansion overlooking the Tweed valley.

‘There is no finer place to stay to explore the Highlands,’ say fans of Carol and Gordon Bulloch’s ‘friendly’ B&B, ten minutes’ walk from town, on the edge of the Cairngorms national park.

‘Beautiful, beautiful! silvery Tay, Thy scenery is enchanting on a fine summer day.’

‘A beautiful location, lovely gardens, good food and friendly service – and a view from our room that was probably the best we have ever enjoyed.’

A ‘little jewel’ in a secluded setting, this small baronial mansion crowns sweeping manicured lawns within acres of woodland.

In ‘a splendid location’, Fiona and Richard Trevor’s 18th-century church manse looks out at fishing boats bobbing on the water of a tranquil inlet.

Days spent fishing on the River Tweed, golfing or walking, unwind at this ‘excellent’, well-established 18th century hotel on the High Street of a pretty Borders town.

A welcoming sanctuary for outdoorsy types, Kate and Gordon Innes’s town-centre hotel provides storage for fishing rods, guns and bicycles, as well as knowledgeable details on activities in the Scottish Borders.

‘A more beautiful setting than this peaceful bay could hardly be wished for.’

In a ‘glorious location’, this 19th-century whitewashed inn, perched above Loch Fyne, is run as a ‘terrific’ hotel, bar and bistro by Gill and Archie MacLellan.

In 1922 a young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, as we now think of her) joined a house party at this turreted Victorian country house on the River Tay.

‘We were looking forward to our stay,’ write Guide insiders, on returning to this classical Georgian mansion in ‘wonderful grounds’, rescued from ruin in the 1990s by Don and Wendy Matheson.

Amid the ‘drowned landscape’ of North Uist, with its tidal strands, lochans and peat bogs, this former shooting lodge overlooking Loch Langass is run as a hotel by Amanda and Niall Leveson Gower.