The charming Kinloch Lodge doubles up as home to Scotland's favourite cook, Claire Macdonald, and so your search for warm Highland hospitality ends here. In the dining area, feast under the watchful eyes of Macdonald ancestors whose portraits adorn the walls, while the linen napery, vintage silver cutlery and polished glassware make an attractive display of how it should be done.

The kitchen team is headed by the Roux brothers-trained Marcelo Tully whose vision of Scottish cooking is largely based on finest local and seasonal produce. It's also comfortingly familiar, with Stornoway black pudding and caramelised apple and bacon, or Mallaig kippers with lemon and parsley butter for breakfast. There are few things better than fruit tartlets filled with crème patisserie or smoked salmon sandwiches for afternoon tea. At dinner rely on some exceptional produce from Scotland's natural larder, such as Buccleuch Estate beef and local poultry, game and shellfish.

Kinloch is also one among the few restaurants in Scotland to be awarded the Michelin Guide's 'Red Grapes' for their wine list, but the ultimate recognition arrived in 2010 when they gained a Michein star, the first ever on the Isle of Skye.