Katie Grant, The Times, 5 May 2001

Last weekend I went to the Outer Hebrides and have returned stunned. We are so used to flying south for holidays that to fly north and discover paradise comes as little short of a miracle. I came courtesy of Jonathan Bulmer, the owner of Amhuinnsuidhe Castle who, to keep the castle socially and financially alive (which means employing more than 25 people) has created the perfect holiday for the discerning tourist.

One option is to do a cookery course with the celebrated Rosemary Shrager whose gift is to produce food as glorious and unexpected as the views. But there is also painting and, my preferred option, a weekend of chamber concerts given by a piano quartet led by Peter Manning (violin) with Philip Dukes (viola), Josephine Knight (cello) and Liz Burley (piano). Listening, in the comfort of Amhuinnsuidhe's grand hall, to the Mendelssohn D minor piano trio and the Schumann piano quartet in E flat accompanied by the low keening of the wind and the shushing of the waves, a glass of champagne to hand and the prospect of Rosemary's scallops and duck breasts ahead, creates a special kind of holiday spirit.

If you go nowhere else, go to the Western Isles. No one could leave them with anything but magic in their soul. This is Scotland at its very best. It is hard to convey the island's wild appeal or the outstanding quality of every second spent at Amhuinnsuidhe, either on days when both sea and sky sparkle like diamonds or times when the Atlantic roars and the clouds scud through horizontal rain. But the juxtaposition of the comfort, civilisation and professionalism of the castle's service with the raw untameability of the elements outside is matchless.