In the lea of the cliffs, overlooking a private beach on the rugged Galloway coast, Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge offers a great sense of escape.

Built for a veteran of Culloden and remodelled in Victorian times, Jane MacFarlane’s stone mansion stands in a breathtaking situation on the shores of Loch Shiel, with views of Ben Nevis and the Glenfinnan Monument.

In springtime, the drive up to Jan and Adam Moore’s 18th-century former sporting lodge is ‘lined with young trees in blossom, bulbs everywhere’.

Mellow sandstone battlements, turrets and towers are revealed only at the final turn of the ‘lengthy’ drive through the ‘vibrant, meticulously tended’ grounds of Paul and Poppy Szkiler’s 19th-century baronial pile.

Iona Sound, frescoed with gently bobbing boats, provides a tranquil outlook for the row of crofters’ cottages that form this ‘amazing little hotel’.

In ‘a splendid location’, Fiona and Richard Trevor’s 18th-century church manse looks out at fishing boats bobbing on the water of a tranquil inlet.

‘From the moment you pull up at this beautiful hotel, you are treated like royalty,’ writes a reader on a return visit to this Victorian country house on the shores of Loch Faskally.

‘A beautiful location, lovely gardens, good food and friendly service – and a view from our room that was probably the best we have ever enjoyed.’

‘Down a long single-track road, flanked by stone eagles at the gate,’ this Victorian hunting lodge stands in ‘a glorious setting’ by Loch Gairloch, ‘with enchanting views of cavorting seals’.

‘So nice to come back here,’ writes a trusted reader, on returning to the Allen family’s creeper-covered Victorian country house on a hillside above a peaceful valley.

‘Keep it small and do it well’ – that’s the philosophy at this surprisingly sophisticated restaurant-with-rooms in a quiet village four miles north of Peebles.