Shieldaig Lodge

Once a Victorian hunting lodge, this ‘unpretentious’ hotel makes the most of both its history and its West Highland geography on the banks of Loch Gairloch. Deer stalking, fishing and falconry are all on offer on the 26,000-acre estate. Inside, among a ‘splendid aroma of peat, whisky and leather’, are deep leather sofas, log fires, tartan and tweed furnishings and more than 250 whiskies in the bar. Chef Jerome Prodanu’s daily-changing menus have an equally Scottish flavour, incorporating estate lamb, venison and beef as well as locally caught seafood and produce from the lodge’s own vegetable garden. Readers were very happy with their ‘Cape Wrath oysters and sweet North Uist scallops with black pudding and supreme of duck’. The wine list is ‘good’. ‘Seal spotting at dinner and breakfast was a real treat.’ Upstairs, ‘large and comfortable’ bedrooms are country-Caledonian in style: a tartan headboard here, a stag-print cushion there. Some have sweeping views of the loch, others overlook the garden. ‘A fantastic location, excellent staff and very good food.’ (John Barnes, David Birnie)