Inver Lodge

Inver Lodge is built into the hillside above Lochinver, so that every room looks west across the bay towards the Hebridean horizon. Behind it lies Assynt, a landscape of isolated sandstone peaks — Suilven, Canisp, Quinag — that looks less like Scotland than like something invented.

The kitchen operates as Chez Roux, the restaurant brand founded by the Roux family, and leans heavily on what comes off the boats at the pier a few hundred yards below: langoustines, halibut, hand-dived scallops. Rooms are named for the mountains, and the best of them have baths positioned for the view.

It is a natural overnight stop on the North Coast 500, though it deserves longer. Fishing on the estate lochs, sea trips and long empty beaches at Achmelvich and Clachtoll are all within easy reach.