In Britain's most northerly hotel on the Shetland Islands, just 200 miles from the Norwegian coast. It is very cozy and very secluded. And there's a secret local story…

As I listened to the wind howl and watched the rain hit my window in my small room at the Baltasound Hotel on the intriguing island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, I was beyond glad to be where I was.

It wasn't just that I avoided the storm. It was a feeling of being far away from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life – among the petrel petrels, kittiwakes, gannets, guillemots, seagulls and puffins (and not much else) in Britain's most northerly hotel.

Baltasound Hotel opened in 1939 on Britain's most northerly inhabited island. There are 22 rooms, a restaurant and a bar where whiskey is of course served for a 'little snack' after an invigorating walk along the rugged coastline at the entrance.

That's the great appeal of remote Unst, population 632, some six miles long and five miles wide: hitting the footpaths and exploring the dramatic landscape with its steep cliffs and arid moonscape-like interior.

Here you are further north than Oslo, the Norwegian capital, and approximately the height of Bergen in Norway and its famous fjord country, just 200 miles across the North Sea to the east.

Unst is above the 60th parallel – not that far away from the Arctic Circle, which is around the 66th parallel (closer to the island than London).

But location aside, there's another reason to head to Unst and the Baltasound Hotel: it could be local literary legend Robert Louis Stevenson's real-life Treasure Island.

The story goes like this: Stevenson visited Unst in 1869, aged nine, to see the lighthouse being built on the uninhabited island of Muckle Flugga, little more than a barren rock jutting out of the sea just north of Unst. He was taken by his father, the famous lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson.

It is said that this impressionable visit cemented itself in the writer's imagination and when it came to writing Treasure Island, his classic story of buccaneers, published in 1883, some believe he was inspired by Unst. The 'proof' of this is that the shape he describes of his fictional island – 'like a fat dragon rising up' – is remarkably similar to the contours of the little-visited Scottish island.

True or not – and Stevenson never let on – it's fun to imagine you're on Treasure Island, setting out for a morning walk from the Baltasound Hotel on the northern edge of Baltasound village, after a hearty Scottish breakfast served by friendly, relaxed staff (excellent bacon and eggs).

The hotel's rooms are in an outbuilding attached to the old stone main building from the 1860s – mine was in this part, a comfortable single room with a pretty tartan bed cover, wooden panels and a caramel-coloured carpet – as well as in a series of log cabins on the property. There are larger rooms including a 'family hut' with bunk beds for children.

On a walk you will soon pass fields of sheep – and some Shetland ponies – to Britain's most northerly church, Haroldswick Methodist Church, as well as Britain's most northerly post office, Britain's most northerly tearoom (Victoria's Vintage Tea Rooms) and the grim remains of Britain's northernmost castle, Muness Castle, built in 1598.

On the north-east coast you will find the fine white sands of Skaw Beach, Britain's most northerly beach, close to Britain's most northerly house.

Numerous tourist signs mention its extreme geographical location, which has been adopted as the unofficial local slogan.

The highlight for some is the island's quirky Bobby's Bus Shelter, equipped with a sofa and television and redecorated from time to time to fit annual themes such as the Football World Cup or the Coronation. The name comes from a six-year-old local boy, Bobby McCauley, who saved the shelter from removal in 1996, starting a quirky tradition.

'Oh yes, that's within sight of the hotel. You can take a bus from Lerwick [Shetland’s capital]via the inter-island ferries for around £8,” says Steve, owner of the Baltasound Hotel, who adds that many guests are birdwatchers and photographers who go to the Hermaness National Nature Reserve to see the puffins and 'Keen of Hamar Nature Reserve' to see. .

Famous recent guests have included TV adventurer Ben Fogle and politician Hilary Benn. Leading American sociologist Erving Goffman stayed there in the mid-20th century – and some American academics make a pilgrimage to visit his Scottish hideaway.

Over the past few years, the hotel has attracted summer vacationers from as far away as Switzerland and Italy, says Steve (who prefers not to reveal his last name). “It's the location that attracts people,” he says. 'It's a wilderness location in a busy world: a real place. Pristine.'

Sometimes you can also see the Northern Lights, says Steve: 'This is a place to escape from a difficult environment. A beautiful place. Authentic tourism.'

A real treasure of an island indeed.

Tom Chesshyre's book Lost In The Lakes – Notes from a 379 mile walk around the Lake District is out now.