‘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.

Some retirees get a gold watch. The Countess of Seafield did her estate manager, John Smith, rather better, commissioning this handsome house for him in 1910.

Surrounded by the Cairngorms national park, the Cowap family's restored Victorian shooting lodge is zesty inside. Local artwork, cheery modern furnishings and Scottish flourishes in the wood-panelled public areas.