Coul House

A long drive on a single-track country road leads to this Georgian house built for a baronet, today an ‘outstanding’ traditional hotel owned by Stuart and Susannah Macpherson. Step into the large hall, its stag’s head over the open fireplace, to be greeted by ‘friendly and professional’ staff. Beyond, find a cosy drawing room and a lounge bar ideal for ‘stretching out in, by the log fire, after a bracing walk’. In the octagonal formal dining room (a showpiece, with an ornate plastered ceiling and huge windows), chef Garry Kenley serves ‘a very good lobster’ – and more besides. His ‘enjoyable’ menus have a modern touch, perhaps including wild mushroom pâté, aubergine caviar; Baharat-spiced lamb rump, caponata, rosemary potato cake. Bedrooms, which have been refurbished this year along with new carpets, vary in size and shape, though all are traditionally decorated. Choose one with views towards the Strathconon mountains. Bring your dog, or borrow residents Alfie and Bella for ‘a spectacular walk’: you can’t miss the Douglas fir planted in 1827 by plant hunter David Douglas himself – it still stands in the grounds. (HM, and others)