Eddrachilles Hotel

Take a drive on the wild side via the North Coast 500 to this small private hotel, a former Church of Scotland manse in a ‘magical place right on the water’ overlooking Badcall Bay. Some older guests have memories of Youth Hostel stays here in the 1950s, but nostalgia for cold showers, lumpy beds and lumpier porridge melt away in the warmth of the welcome from hosts Fiona and Richard Trevor. ‘What a fantastic hotel!’ readers write. ‘Wonderful porridge.’ A complimentary cream tea is served in the conservatory. You have a choice of 60 malt whiskies in the lounge/bar. Six first-floor bedrooms have a king-size bed; four, on the ground floor, have a super-king/twin. Views are over the loch or the courtyard garden. ‘The bedrooms have had a complete make-over and have been beautifully decorated.’ ‘Miracle worker’ Trevor Williams cooks a short, nightly changing menu of dishes such as roast lamb rump with red wine jus. ‘Breakfast was also lovely.’ ‘Food and service always exceed expectations.’ ‘Our dog wants to live there (so do we).’ (James Barclay, Roger Meachem, Tina Swanson, Peter Saunders, and many others)