There’s a pretty good range of accommodation all over Scotland: from hostels to grand world-class hotels. As you’d expect, the bigger, more popular cities have the best selection. In more remote locations, you may have to take what you can get. The standard and most common form of mid-range accommodation is the Bed and Breakfast. This tends to range from...

This forbidding-looking Georgian mansion lies in 20 acres of formal gardens and attractive woodlands where deer graze and the crash of waves along beautiful sandy beaches is not far away. The setting makes the hotel a great retreat and inside things are very comfortable too. The relaxing public rooms are hung with local art and a great gym and spa...

This slick hotel in a baronial-style mansion on the banks of Loch Lomond doesn’t seem to loose character for being part of a chain (the DeVere Group) or having furnishings that are more contemporary boutique than antique country-house. Instead the place does manage to reflect the “majestic world of heather-dappled glens and roaring open fires” as its marketing blurb puts...

The vast Georgian stately home of Culzean (kul-LAYN) is celebrated for the gentility of its design, and its marvellously wild and windswept clifftop setting on the Firth of Clyde – and for the arresting contrast between the two. There have been fortifications of some sort here since the 12th century, but the present structure dates back to an 18th century...

Late-19th-century castle set in 36 acres of fairy-tale gardens and woodlands on the rugged and beautiful Ayrshire coast. Here views extend over the Irish Sea, to include the Isle of Arran. The interiors are nothing short of sumptuous, and well illustrated on website, where there’s also much info about the superb restaurant. Here Michelin chef Adam Stokes delivers impressive gourmet...

This superb country-house resort has oodles of time-worn style and staff who excel at warm unpretentious personal service. Everything is five-star and possible leisure activities include shooting, riding, fishing, 4×4 driving and a fantastic spa. But the really big draws here are the adjoining group of world-class golf courses (no handicap required) and Scotland’s finest restaurant (according to Michelin) under...

Isolated and on the fringes of the empty wilds of Rannoch Moor, the Kingshouse Hotel may be a touch run-down, but has oodles of Highland atmosphere, good mid-range accommodate and a couple of bars with reasonable pub food. The Climber’s Bar at the back of the hotel is a particularly fine place for muddy boots to end up after a...

Listed as one of the world’s top 25 small hotels by Conde Naste Traveller Magazine, this is a smart, traditional and above all very Scottish place. It’s on the pretty tranquil shores of a sea loch while inside it’s all warm informal atmosphere, blazing log fires and country-style bedrooms with views. As a popular retreat, the hotel has an expert...

To properly explore luxury Scotland you’ll need to stay in one of its many top-end hotels. A good number of these trace back to the Victorian Golden Age of tourism, explaining why they’re attached to venerable golf courses. But if you’re after contemporary luxury then you’ll find a growing number of boutique hotels, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Other ways...

With its roaring log fire; cheerful atmosphere; regular live music; good regional food (mains £9–22); and a bar with a solid selection of malt whiskies, the Old Bridge Inn one of Aviemore’s best hangouts, day or night. It’s easy to spend a pleasant rainy day entertaining yourself with its musical instruments, books and games, while in summer the sociable Speyside...

The Peat Inn’s been in business over 30 years during which it’s consistently been one of Scotland’s best restaurants. It works its charm in an intimate and unpretentious dining room where fresh Scottish produce is imaginatively used and served alongside an extensive wine list. The inn’s eight individual suites combine simple country charm with an air of luxury.

Plockton is certainly one of Scotland’s prettiest villages. Here a tidy row of neatly painted cottages huddle around a small bay and overlook the heathery hillsides around Loch Carron where it joins the sea. The effects are only enhanced by a mild – gulf stream-driven – micro-climate that allows palm trees to grow here. It was at the end of...

Of Turnberry’s two championship courses it’s the Ailsa Course (6976; Par 70) that’s more famous. Numerous world greats have graced this coastal Ayrshire course, doing their best not to be distracted by the beauty of the place. With eponymous granite monolith Ailsa Craig and the isle of Arran on horizon, and with the dramatic Turnberry Lighthouse in the foreground, it...