‘A very special place,’ say guests in 2019, of Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge overlooking the Irish Sea. ‘The accommodating hosts went out of their way, more than once, to ensure we had a terrific time.’ Reached by a long driveway through wooded cliffs, the house made a discreet retreat for Churchill and Eisenhower’s D-Day planning in 1944 – an old radar station nearby is called Hush Hush. It’s still ‘fabulously tranquil’ today. The country-style lounge is the spot for leaf tea and ‘the finest scones I have tasted’; evenings are for sampling some of the 120-plus single malts in the bar with its fire and leather wingback chairs. In the restaurant, Tony Pierce’s modern Scottish fare, including slow-roast Angus beef, shallot purée, potato terrine, wild mushrooms, port and thyme reduction, is ‘delicate, well judged, perfectly executed’. Rooms have a warm, traditional style, bathrobes and upmarket Scottish toiletries. Whin has widescreen sea views through triple-aspect windows; Churchill, where the PM stayed, has a super-king-size sleigh bed, original fireplace and century-old enamelled concrete tub. ‘I can’t recommend it highly enough.’ (Deborah Loveluck)