‘More home than hotel’, the Macdonalds’ ‘fabulous’ Victorian country house brims with family history and aristocratic fixtures.

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

There’s ‘a good night’s sleep’ and more at Jean Urquhart’s ‘lively’ Ceilidh Place – a popular fusion of cultural hub, bookshop and small hotel, one street back from the ferry terminal.

‘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.

‘What a gem!’ Robyn and Mena Aitchison, the ‘charming’ owners, run this ‘extremely pleasant small B&B’ with ‘wonderful hospitality.’

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.

‘Derek and Celia are just fabulous,’ praised visitors this year. ‘Friendly, efficient – and they’ve done a magnificent job in maintaining and enhancing this former tweed mill.’

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.

‘Deserves its entry’ is a trusted reader’s verdict on Ina and Kieron Kelly’s family-run hotel in a mountain landscape at the head of Loch Shiel.

On the shores of Loch Ewe stands a ‘deceptively large’ 18th-century fishing lodge run as a ‘pleasingly eclectic guest house’ by the ‘very welcoming’ Harrison family.

‘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.

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.

Bright and inviting, a ‘very pleasant’ sandstone guest house provides homely, well-executed accommodation close to the cathedral and the Royal Dornoch Golf Club.

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.

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.

Overlooking the beautiful harbour town, a Georgian-style country house (Perle Hotels) in landscaped gardens has been given a sleekly modern interior.

Amid ‘some of the most remote and beautiful scenery one can find anywhere in the world’, Sheila Condie’s traditional Highland inn stands close to the ferry, overlooking the Sound of Sleat.

In a wild coastal corner of the Highlands, this white-painted Victorian house gazes out across moorland, croft and sea.

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’. 

‘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.