I ’ve just finished a 10-night tour across Britain and Ireland, checking out the hotels and guesthouses that have won César awards in this year’s Good Hotel Guide. The GHG is a champion of independent, often idiosyncratic places, and each year it honours 10 properties that it feels are outstanding in their own class.

Before they let the rest of the world know, though, they slip me the list. I put on dark glasses and an alias, and visit all 10 to see if they’re up to scratch.

This year’s GHG selection is one of the best I’ve seen. In fact, the only thing that worries me about the class of 2009-10 is the prices. César-winners as a whole became noticeably more expensive about four years ago.

The price hike was accompanied by a commensurate leap forward in quality, so at the time it seemed worth paying the extra. But we all know what’s happened since then. Perhaps, next time, the editors might want to return to the early, pioneering spirit of the GHG and root out a couple of real bargains.

BEST SCOTTISH RESTAURANT WITH ROOMS

Kilberry Inn, Argyll
The César judges rave about the “glorious setting” on the Kilberry peninsula, and they’re not kidding: driving down the fabulously abandoned single-track coastal road, I was so busy ogling the Paps of Jura, I almost hit a stag. This is a wild, magical place at the edge of the world, with the Kilberry Inn a cosy final outpost and a wonderful base for coastal walks. There are just five rooms. Mine, in its own wee cottage off the main house, was supremely comfortable, with a self-catering kitchen. Not that you’d cook: Kilberry Inn is the Scottish Restaurant of the Year for 2009.

The room: nothing grand, but wonderfully cosy. There’s a DVD library, and home-made shortbread... you’ll be praying for rain. 8/10

The food: the judges call it “sublime”, and they’ll get no argument from me. It’s packed with local produce, from scallops and crab, landed that day 20 minutes away in Tarbert, to beef and pork from surrounding farms. My rib-eye steak with chanterelle sauce was as good as anything I’ve ever tasted. 10/10

Service: spot-on. The owner, David Wilson, is chatty but discreet, filling the peat-fired dining room with convivial mirth. 9/10

Value: 10/10 — five-star food with a three-star price tag.

Does it deserve its César? Yes — and more.

01880 770223, kilberryinn.com; doubles from £175, including dinner and breakfast

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