Fresh flings in the Highlands

Island escape
On the only-reachable-by-boat isle of Ulva in the Inner Hebrides, where the population numbers just 16, a derelict mansion is getting a new lease of life from interior designer Banjo Beale and his pastry-chef-turned-cheese-maker husband Ro Christopher. “People imagine remote islands as static or sleepy, but Ulva is the opposite; it is so alive,” Beale says. The Aussie duo – currently the subject of the BBC’s Banjo and Ro’s Grand Island Hotel – will open their home for sleepovers this summer. “We want people raiding our larder, shucking their own oysters, helping themselves to a bottle of wine.” (ulvahouse.com)

Nature retreat
Further north is a restoration project on a far bigger scale. Hope, the new opening from Wildland, is part of a conservation-driven vision for vast stretches of the Scottish Highlands – a cluster of restored crofts on the coastal landscape of Sutherland will be available to book in May. (wildland.scot/properties/hope)

Elevated pub stay
Meanwhile, in Perthshire, beloved pub-with-rooms The Taybank has taken on a second site and is fully renovating the former Birnam Hotel on the other side of the river Tay. Due to open this summer, every detail – from the antique chairs made by East Bros in Dundee dating back to 1915, to the lanterns made with Birnam clay by local ceramicist Cara Guthre – has been inspired by its location, specifically the ancient trees of Birnam Wood. (thebirnamhotel.com)

Urban art hotel
Change is also afoot in the city. Opening in April on Glasgow’s Bath Street is a design-led stay, Arthouse Glasgow, filling a gap in the city’s hotel landscape. As well as bringing history, culture and modern comfort together it acts as the new digs for playful Italian-ish restaurant, Celentano’s, which will be dishing up its much-loved smoked cod and kimchi doughnuts and deep-fried lasagne bites. (arthousehotelglasgow.com)

Photograph Shelley Richmond/Hello Halo/BBC Scotland