Tomorrow sees the announcement of what, for our money, are the most important awards of the year: the Césars. They’re given out by the Good Hotel Guide, and they go to small, independent hotels — the kind of place run by a husband-and-wife team, on the kind of budget that wouldn’t pay for the lobby furniture in some of our more highfalutin’ designer hostelries. Where other hotel inspectors count trouser presses, the GHG rates a place on the things that really matter, such as character, hospitality and good food.

That’s why we take the Césars seriously — so seriously, in fact, that, for the seventh year running, we’ve gone undercover for a sneak preview of this year’s winners. In the past couple of weeks, I checked in at all 10 to see if they really are the best independents in the land.

How did they do? Well, not all are quite as good as the book suggests, but the best are little short of miraculous. If you fancy a weekend away somewhere stunning, without breaking the bank, read on.

SCOTTISH HOTEL OF THE YEAR

Isle of Eriska

Near Oban, Argyll

I’m often wary of hotels with a minimum two-night stay, but here I wish they’d locked me up for longer. Two reasons: one, the setting, a 300-acre private island looking out across the Lynn of Lorn, is worth weeks, not days; and two, despite the wording of its César, Eriska is more resort than hotel. I did what I could: swimming in the pool, birding on the beach, golfing on the six-hole course, “photo-stalking” stags on Kingairloch estate. But with the tennis, fishing, shooting, cycling and spa all untouched, I failed to do it justice.

The location: otters and badgers are your only neighbours. 10/10

The room: those in the main house are wonderfully grand, but the three new spa suites have a more modern, discreetly indulgent appeal. 10

The decor: just the right blend of old and new. 10

The food: the GHG judges’ “well-liked six-course dinner” was nowhere in evidence, and my scallops were overdone, but generally the food is good. 7

The service: sound, if a touch formal. 8

The tab: main-house doubles £275, B&B; spa suites £380, B&B; set dinner from £38.50pp. Well above the GHG norm...