Myres Castle by Jamie Dunford Wood

Half an hour north of Edinburgh is the unpronounceable village of Auchtermuchty. The landscape here is unremarkable, the tree-less hills rippling away towards the more dramatic highlands not far to the north. Myres sits in a small park just outside the village, a typical small Scottish castle with a single tower and a manor house attached.

What is special about it? There are hundreds of such places dotted around Scotland, many in much more dramatic positions. However, few have been done up with quite the love and attention to detail as Myres, and fewer still are for rent. Moreover, what makes Myres unique is that it has managed to preserve the character of what it was until recently, a private home; while adding a discreetly elevated level of service - a butler, a cook, a housekeeper and a gardener who are entirely at the disposal of groups that can be as small as six.

The story goes like this: the laird, one Captain Fairlie, finds himself unable to restore and maintain the family home to the standard it requires. He has no heirs, so has to sell. Jenny White falls in love with it, and her husband agrees to buy it on the condition it pays for itself. Not only do they buy the Castle, but also most of the contents - furniture, memorabilia, pictures - as Captain Fairlie is only too keen to preserve something of his family history. There are old photograph albums dotted about, with long faded images of men in toupees on elephants; shooting diaries from 1903, with records of pheasant, partridge and grouse - reminders of a bygone age of ease when the young men of the castle could afford to do a little 'riding out for tea with Cecilia' on a Tuesday afternoon; and a telegram from the war office from 1915 alerting the elder Fairlie to the death in action of one of his sons.

Now, not everyone may be interested in this stuff, and it's not certain that it will all last long with excitable guests like myself rooting around amongst it - but nevertheless it lends the place a history and a context that money or refurbishment or second rate paintings in the world cannot buy. It is priceless, and makes the claim that Mary Queen of Scots once slept in the 'Queens bedroom' all the more believable - though if you added all the nights together in all the other castles she is meant to have slept in, she would probably have had to live to 101.

The Whites have spent a fortune doing it up, with new soft furnishings, powershowers, restored Victorian bathrooms (one bath even salvaged from the old Queen Mary), CD players in every room and state of the art mattresses. But they've also clearly had a lot of fun doing it - the details are immaculate, as this is after all intended as a second home for them, though to date they have barely spent four weeks a year here. Everything is supremely comfortable, as befits a family whose main residence is in Jersey.

Last, and perhaps most important of all, the service here is exceptional. With Tom - part assistant manager, part major domo, part butler; the team of gardeners; Suzy the housekeeper and Christopher Trotter the chef, groups from six to 18 are looked after in style. Rates are on the high side, but when you consider what you are getting - the staff, the five star comfort, all meals, and the castle - then you begin to understand what value means. The cooking, too, is five star. Christopher is a well published food writer who formerly ran his own restaurant - the meal we ate here was better than the Witchery in Edinburgh.

As far as activities go, Tom and his team can arrange riding, shooting, fishing and all the rest. The hotel has its own tennis courts and gentle walks but no pool - though it does have a small but immaculate formal garden for lounging on a hot summer’s day.