From the road it looks like an ordinary village inn, but beyond Ardeonaig’s cosy front rooms lies a grand, colonial-style dining area with tall windows affording beautiful loch views via manicured grounds dotted with some of the hotel’s more unusual accommodation: thatched huts styled after the shielings once used as summer shelters in the Highlands. The menu plunders Scotland’s ample larder, offering up artful, classically inspired creations such as hay-smoked salmon with beetroot, cucumber and lemon or mains like Ardeonaig venison with red cabbage, chestnut, figs and salsify. Pannacotta with passion fruit, mango, pineapple and coconut is a typical dessert. There’s also a tasting menu (including a vegetarian version), while those on a flying visit can dine in the bar on anything from upmarket sandwiches to warm chicken salad with slow-poached egg, bacon and mustard dressing.