Can I give 7 or 8 dots to this place? We've stayed in a fair number of nice B&Bs, but Fillmore's is in a league of its own.

First, a bit about Kangaroo Island: it's accessible by either a short (20 minute) flight from Adelaide, or by ferry from Cape Jervis. We took the flight -- it was more expensive, but much quicker and arrived early enough for a full day of touring. The island is quite big -- bigger than I expected from reading about it -- about 90 miles (145 km) across, and most of it is uninhabited by people. As such, the road network is not great (only a couple major roads are paved), and can take a while to get from place to place. There are a number of tour companies that take people around the island; we spent two days touring with Kangaroo Island Wilderness tours in a small 4WD vehicle. It was good to be with an experienced guide who knew his way around and was used to driving on the unpaved roads. The island has several absolutely beautiful beaches and, of course, plenty of Aussie wildlife.

FIllmore's is along Smith Bay, on the northern coast of the island. The B&B has two rooms in a Tuscan-style home that is separate from the hosts' home. The house is amazing -- excellent furnishings, beautiful landscaping out front, a nice courtyard with vines crawling up the walls. There are two rooms, one on the main floor and one upstairs. We stayed in the upstairs room, which has a small balcony with absolutely incredible views (see photos). The room had a comfortable queen bed and was very clean.

As nice as the building is, what makes it so special are the hosts, Peter and Penny. Since there aren't too many restaurants on KI, many accommodations include dinner as well as breakfast. I'm glad we got two meals each day at Fillmore's, because they were outstanding. Peter and Penny made locally-caught fish one night and rack of lamb the next. Along with it were excellent salad (my wife said it was the best salad she's ever eaten) and breads. They cooked breakfast each morning to order; one of them was a goat-cheese omelette made from eggs from their own chickens: wonderful. They also served local KI honey, which we enjoyed so much that they offered to pick up a tub for us to take home! Both nights we ended up staying well after dinner just chatting and drinking wine with Peter and Penny -- we felt like we had been friends of theirs for years, and they had all sorts of interesting stories to tell. Among other things, they breed border collies, so we had a good time playing with all the dogs. (Though if you're not a dog person, don't worry, you won't see them unless you ask.)

Of course, like most B&Bs, it wouldn't be for everyone. If you prefer the familiarity of a hotel atmosphere, you might not like a place like this. But if you enjoy meeting interesting people, staying in a wonderful house with priceless views, and eating gourmet food, get to Fillmore's on your trip to Kangaroo Island. We'll remember our stay there forever and hope that someday we can go back!