The Cross at Kingussie

By a bubbling burn in the Cairngorms national park, Joe and Sarah Jouhal have recently taken over this former Victorian tweed mill which attracts high praise for David Skiggs’ nightly three-course and six course tasting menus catering for all tastes, including vegetarians and pescatarians. ‘We are foodies and this is some of the best we have ever eaten.’ ‘We have stayed many times and it has never let us down.’ In the beamed, stone-walled dining room, David Skiggs’s nightly three-course menu includes dishes such as venison, creamed cabbage, braised oxtail, pickled beets, celeriac, accompanied by a ‘very good and reasonable wine list’. After dinner, retire to one of the larger rooms which overlook the burn as it rushes by. ‘The only noise was the wind in the trees and the shimmer of running water.’ All the bedrooms have a cottagey feel, soft-hued decor, and now a large walk-in power shower. There are cosy lounges with books and a terrace by the burn, frequented by herons, red squirrel and roe deer. Or head out to work off those calories with a hike in the national park – after an amazing breakfast, of course. (Peter Scott, CB, JH)