In a ‘wonderful setting’ on the shores of the Solway Firth, Graeme Lamb’s hotel affords spectacular views across the water to Hestan Isle and the peaks of the Lake District.

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

‘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.

‘Dr Johnson and Mr James Boswell dine here tomorrow – which they did and I gave Mr Johnson rhubarb seeds and some melon.’ Here is Sir Alexander Dick, Laird of Prestonfield, writing of visitors to his 17th-century mansion at the foot of Arthur’s Seat.

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

‘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.

‘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.’

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.

‘Top of the range in every respect.’ Much praise from a Guide stalwart after this year's visit to the MacRobert Trust’s ‘wonderful’ hotel bordering the Cairngorms national park.

An Edinburgh icon for over a century, this Victorian railway stop-over is today a thoroughly 21st-century hotel.

A lofty glass-fronted, cedar-beamed extension creates a cathedral of light, drawing visitors to this B&B in a former surgeon’s house set amid two acres of gardens and woodland on the fringe of the Highlands.

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.

Within easy reach of the city’s sightseeing trail, Andrew and Carla Brooks’s spruced-up 1840s West End hotel has a relaxed, clubby feel.

Light, bright and full of life, Sean and Karen O’Byrne’s super-modern, eco-friendly house is all Scandi style and floor-to-ceiling windows offering memorable views of Loch Creran.

Amid large gardens, Graeme and Emma Clark’s well-placed whitewashed house, midway between Bowmore and Port Ellen on Islay, gazes across the Mull of Oa to the Atlantic beyond.

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

Stunning gardens and outstanding views of the River Tay and hills of Fife surround this former baronial mansion.

A ‘warm’ welcome for pooches and their human companions can be expected at Calum and Rachel Ross’s ‘peaceful’ retreat on the Argyll coast.

A Victorian ghost, a Russian grand duke and a former Prince of Wales have all graced this ‘lovely’ Scottish country house in a ‘delightful position’ on the River Tay.

Beyond ‘splendid wrought iron gates’, a ‘beautifully wooded half-mile drive’ leads to Paul and Poppy Szkiler’s towered and turreted Victorian pile, with a fountain ‘dominating the forecourt’.

‘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.

On an island of long, white-sand beaches, lochs, peat bogs and tidal strands, Amanda and Niall Leveson Gower run their ‘handsome’ white-painted sporting lodge as a family-friendly hotel.

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.