Step into the panelled hall of the Allen family's Victorian country house, and it feels like the comfortable home of some outdoorsy friends, albeit with added elegance. A 'lovely hotel', it lies amid wooded parkland in soft fruit-growing country. There is nothing corporate here: instead, you will find a panelled hall, portrait gallery, lounges with warming fires, comfy sofas, books, board games and malt whiskies. The bedrooms are fittingly traditional with sheets and blankets and Arran Aromatics toiletries. A large suite in shades of apricot has a dual-aspect sitting room, with views over fields, grazed by horses and Highland cattle, to Marlee Loch and the Sidlaw hills. Readers found room 17 to be 'large and comfortable'. Aperitifs and canapés, coffees and liqueurs bookend dinner. A menu of home-grown and local produce brings dishes such as breast of Guinea fowl or fillet of halibut. 'Attention to detail was second to none.' Hunting, shooting and fishing are all on offer, but if you prefer to stroll in bluebell woods, watching for red squirrels, be their guest. (E and J Gibbon)