This 13th-century castle teetering atop rocks must be one of the grandest four-bedroom hotels on the planet. Dining and interiors have been taken care of by Colin Nicholson and his partner Jessica Thompson, who previously worked at Inverlochy Castle Hotel. There is a just-right marriage of ancient and new. Cross the drawbridge and you’re into a cobbled courtyard where you half expect to see a scullery maid plucking chickens; the 10ft-thick walls rising on all sides once held off a siege by the Spanish armada, and are now topped by a walkway with mighty views across Loch Sunart to Mull. There’s an original cannon here, a sword on the wall there, and a bathroom in one room (MacDougall) converted from what was once a chapel. Sound a bit Game of Thrones? It might be were it not for a thoroughly contemporary refit, which is pleasingly uncluttered, with colourful Kashmiri drapes keeping things cosy. A lounge with crushed velvet sofas, a crackling fire and brooding Victorian portraits is a magical spot for whisky cocktails and canapés.
Overall score 8/10
Main photo: Mingary Castle in the Highlands
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Rooms and suites
Score 7/10
Interiors are unfussy but stylish, with modern four-posters and oak panelling; bathrooms have modern slate flooring, Italian marble surfaces and gleaming wall tiles. The dog-friendly MacDonald suite has a small kitchen and hand-carved oak staircase leading to an upstairs bedroom with an antique four poster. However, the best room in the house is the top-floor two-bedroom McCain suite, with a door onto the crenulated panoramic rooftop and a glass bathroom wall that turns opaque at the flick of a remote.
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Food and drink
Score 9/10
There is no à la carte; it’s a daily-changing six-course taster menu only — worth every penny of the £80 price tag. Nicholson has worked extensively in Australia, where Asian culinary influences are king, and it shows. Just the right side of fancy, Nicholson’s dishes are pretty on the plate and bursting with fresh delicate flavours. Fruit, veg and herbs are sourced from the local community garden, seafood is from Tobermory, venison is off the Ardnamurchan estate and other meats are from farms around the hotel. The hotel only has two AA rosettes at the moment, but that will surely change. Get here now before it does and prices change.
What else is there?
Score 7/10
Swimmers will love the wee door out from the courtyard and down via steps to the sea. The hotel also works with the Ardnamurchan estate to offer guided fishing and stalking, and with Otter Adventures in Strontian to offer guided sea-kayaking and paddleboarding.
Where is it?
Score 8/10
The hotel is marooned on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, at least two hours’ drive west from Fort William (or a short ferry hop from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull). Don’t expect many other tourists: the Ardnamurchan peninsula is not on the road to anywhere else, so is way off most visitors’ radars. Their loss: the peninsula feels thrillingly strange and dizzyingly remote with the wild, dune-backed sands of Sanna nearby, and a strange moon-like interior that was once the magma chamber of a 60-million-year-old volcano.
Price B&B doubles from £300
Restaurant five-course tasting menu £60
Family-friendly Y
Dog-friendly Y
Accessible N
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