In a beautiful location overlooking the Sound of Vaila, on Shetland’s remote west coast, this 18th-century laird’s house, altered and extended, offers a home-from-home experience. Belgian owner Pierre Dupont describes it as a ‘pension’, suggesting the unpretentious ambience that most visitors love. ‘Pierre is keen to give you exactly what you want,’ reported one reader, while the welcome with tea in the conservatory, with ‘gorgeous orange cake’, made a great start for others. Choose your room carefully: ideally go for the ‘splendid and spacious’ Laird’s Room with tester bed and uplifting turquoise hues. It has ‘stunning views on two sides’, and it is Ring of Bright Water before your very eyes, as otters dive for fish and cavort on shore. Pierre cooks a nightly hanging menu of ‘straightforward, uncomplicated fare’, using locally caught fish and shellfish (turbot, halibut, crab and lobster, sea trout), heather-fed lamb. ‘Don’t be shocked,’ guests are urged, if afterwards you are asked for your ‘breakfast desires’. ‘Pierre simply wants to please you.’ Such temptation! ‘I could not resist the kipper on two occasions.’