My favourite Airbnb: the perfect Highland family retreat in its own hillside hollow

""I liked our last holiday house better," announces my niece on arrival at Gairnsheil Lodge's Laggan Cottage in the Scottish Highlands. The thing about six-year-olds is that they famously have very little taste, and this isn't the first thing we've disagreed on (other topics include bedtimes, what constitutes 'dinner' and how often you should brush your hair). You'd think for someone who was being treated to a bucket list holiday she'd have a little more respect."

"Sitting in the heather-clad hills and circled by a tumbling stream, it's the stuff of Scottish storybooks. Lying low under sagging winter skies in its hollow, it's a traditional cottage carved out of Speyside stone with sweet multi-pane windows and double chimney breasts book-ending the building. To one side there's a new porch to stuff with wellies and jackets, which leads onto a kitchen, through to a lounge and continues on to the one downstairs bedroom,"

Laggan Cottage at Gairnsheil Lodge sits in heather-clad hills beside a tumbling stream, offering a storybook setting. The traditional Speyside stone cottage features multi-pane windows, double chimney breasts and a new porch for wellies and jackets. The ground floor includes a kitchen, lounge with open fire and a downstairs bedroom; two further bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms occupy the upper floor. The cottage lacks a television, encouraging quiet evenings by the fire, candles and use of an adjoining bar. The décor feels uncluttered yet fully furnished as a home, and the aesthetic appears even more appealing in person than in photographs. The cottage suits a relaxed, romantic rural escape.

Read at CN Traveller