‘Coorie’ means to nestle or snuggle, and guests will certainly feel snug, sitting by the log-burner in the dining room at this red-stone coaching inn, the reinvented Barley Bree restaurant with rooms. Chef-proprietor Phillip Skinazi, former executive pastry chef at Gleneagles, has been rolling out smartly refurbished bedrooms since he arrived in July 2023 while cooking his inventive, locally sourced meals. A reader reports that despite high prices, the cooking 'was of a high standard'. 'Prawn toast with scallops was the showpiece – most unusual', while sea bass and cod were 'beautifully cooked'. Rooms are all street facing, with tall windows, and are a good mix of solid tradition and contemporary comforts and paint colours. They range from a standard super-king with fabrics in teal and gold, to a dual-aspect super-king with antiques, leather armchairs, a walk-in shower and copper bath, views to the ruined 12th-century Old Church with its heroic tower. Our reader was delighted to find two comfy chairs in his room, along with good reading lights above the bed, but not so happy to have a small wardrobe with only two hangers, and neither a bathroom shelf nor a towel rail. Highland walks await and you can now bring your dog. (Bill Wood)