Address: Loch Awe, Kilchrenan by Taynuilt, Argyll, Scotland PA35 1HE.
Tel: 01866 833333.
Fax: 01866 833222.
E-mail: ardanaiseig@clara.net
Link: ardanaiseig-hotel.com
First impressions: Austere but imposing country house designed by controversial 19th-century architect William Burn looms solidly out of lush, loch-lapping landscape at the end of a road to nowehere else.
What are the rooms like? Well, there's the lime green, the red, or something more conventional. Spacious with spectacular views successfully combining antiques in every corner with modern design ideas.
The bed test: Big enough for yourself and a few chums, if that's your fancy. Hard to leave, even without the chums.
The bathroom test: Never mind the brownish water, it's peaty but all their own and there's plenty of lotions to compensate. Room for two in the bath as well.
The restaurant: Imaginative menu, outstanding wine list, solicitous service. An eccentric collection of paintings around the walls. An atmosphere that's a little too elbows- off-the-table for some tastes.
What is there to see within walking distance? More than 100 acres of Victorian woodland gardens, an alternative walk to the basement for snooker, or there's tennis, croquet, swimming, boating - even a small amphitheatre in the gardens for music or folk tale performances.
What is there to see within driving distance? Compelling Highland countryside, castles, golf and Oban with top crab sandwiches and ferries to the islands.
How much a night? Bed and breakfast, £39-£125 per person. With dinner (three nights or more): £59-£148 per person.
