Hardly hellish, Robert Dorrien-Smith’s island hotel, perky in a protected cove in the Atlantic Ocean, is ‘well worth the trip’. ‘The location is simply stunning, possibly the best and most isolated that we’ve ever stayed in,’ write Guide readers this year. ‘We had morning cups of tea in bed, gazing at the crashing Atlantic waves – a perfect start to the day.’ This is a ‘friendly place’: ‘the staff are charming and thorough, and do everything with a smile’.Bedrooms are spread out among a cluster of clapboard cottages, some with a balcony and sea views, all well conceived and decorated in breezy coastal shades. A short walk through ‘beautifully tended’ gardens leads to the restaurant, where chef Richard Kearsley turns out ‘innovative, consistently excellent’ dishes on a daily-changing menu. ‘How the chef does this on a tiny island that gets cut off in bad weather, heaven knows, but he does.’ The hotel’s ‘unrivalled’ collection of Cornish art is not to be missed, nor is the summertime Crab Shack, where just three seafood dishes are served convivially and communally. ‘Such fun, really different – one of the highlights of our trip.’ (Fiona Foster, BW)