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

‘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’.

‘As ever, very enjoyable, and three minutes from the ferry terminal.’ The Urquhart family’s ‘busy, buzzy' café/bar, bookshop, hotel and cultural hub hits all the right notes.

‘The welcome was superb, the setting magical, the staff were friendly and helpful,’ writes a reader in 2019, of Lord and Lady Macdonald’s former hunting lodge on the shores of Loch Na Dal.

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

‘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.

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.

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.

For over 30 years, the Harrison family has greeted visitors to their former 18th-century fishing lodge with ‘genuine warmth and interest’.

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.

‘In a superb position overlooking Badcall Bay’, this 18th-century church manse-turned-hotel gains a full entry at the urging of readers and a Guide inspector.

‘A good stay.’ Close to the cathedral and the Royal Dornoch Golf Club, Kerensa and Michael Carr’s ‘pleasant’ sandstone guest house provides homely, well-executed accommodation.

Across a galvanised footbridge, the huge windows of Neil Hope and Lesley Unwin’s modern, architect-designed B&B bring those ‘glorious views’ of Broadford Bay and the Cuillin mountains right into the house.

‘The moment you walk in it is obvious that care, interest and real flair have been shown in the decoration. We loved the unusual clocks and knick-knacks.’

On one of the sunniest stretches of Scottish coast, John Bochel and Rachel Philipsen ensure that their ‘good-value’ B&B lives up to its name and catches every ray.

Two miles from the harbour of a tiny Skye fishing village, a single-track road leads to Clare and Ian Winskill’s peaceful restaurant-with-rooms; guests are offered a glass of Prosecco on arrival.

Overlooking the beautiful harbour town, an Edwardian country house in landscaped gardens with a sleekly modern interior.

The Plitvice national park, in wooded hills way south of Zagreb, is famed for its ‘seventeen lakes of a beautiful turquoise colour, linked by waterfalls and cascades: one of the great natural wonders of Europe’. 

‘A beautiful hotel with wonderful food and lovely young staff.’ Readers this year loved their stay at Don and Wendy Matheson’s Georgian mansion in gardens and parkland.

This classic seaside resort was popular with the aristocracy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

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.

A few minutes’ stroll from the city’s bustling centre, John and Jane Martin’s good value B&B, within its own grounds on a quiet residential street, remains a restful retreat.