Another Place, The Machrie

The Machrie's links course has been laid out over the dunes above Laggan Bay since the 1890s and is regularly placed among the finest in Britain and Ireland. The hotel that serves it has been rebuilt and, since joining the Another Place group, relaxed considerably — this is a golf resort where non-golfers are genuinely well looked after.

Forty-three rooms, suites, duplexes and two-bedroom family lodges look out over the bay or the course. The 18 Restaurant & Bar works through Islay seafood and island produce, and there is a screening room and a collection of contemporary art scattered through the public spaces.

The Wild Garden is the surprise: two wood-fired hot tubs, a cold tub and an outdoor sauna set in the dunes. Beyond the property, Islay's distilleries — Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Laphroaig — are a short drive along the south coast.