On a sheltered cove on the wildly scenic Galloway coast, Sian and David Ibbotson’s stone hunting lodge is liked for its ‘tranquil setting’, its ‘professional, friendly, caring’ staff, and its fine collection of single malts.

‘The valley in which this inn sits seems to me one of the loveliest places on earth; from the back of the inn, the views of fells, river and parkland landscape are just about perfect. And the stillness at night is magical.’

‘Timeless standards of comfort’ keep guests coming back to this Italianate mansion ‘in a wonderful position’ on the River Usk.

From the Georgian steps of pale-pink Enniscoe House, take in the ‘enchanting view of Lough Conn shimmering through a break in the woods’.

‘The wonderful views of Lough Corrib, combined with warm, easy-going hospitality, make this a place in which we could stay for ages.’

For more than a century, the Baldry family’s ancient farmhouse has stood in this remote, ‘very special setting’, where the ‘fantastic views’ reach over the garden and the sheep-dotted fields to the fells beyond.

Wooded grounds and the meandering River Forss set a tranquil scene for this Georgian hotel with strong fishing links.

‘As delightful as ever’, reports a trusted Guide correspondent in 2017, of Adam Fox-Edwards’s former coaching inn–turned–sporting hotel near Dartmoor.

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.

Swing round a winding, single-track road to this turreted, Jacobean-style baronial mansion ‘beautifully situated’ on the shores of Loch Awe.

Approached up a long drive, this ‘beautifully maintained’ 18th-century country house stands in extensive grounds – ‘a delight tn the eye’.

Olga Polizzi’s countryside retreat, at its origin a Regency fishing lodge created for the Duchess of Bedford, is today an ‘unpretentious, wholly enjoyable’ hotel ‘decorated with charm and taste’.