20 of the most beautiful hotels in Scotland
The Airds Hotel - Three Nights for the Price of Two Special Offer
PORT APPIN
‘Highly, highly recommended. We shall return.’ Much praise from a reader for this ‘wonderful little boutique hotel’ with ‘delightful’ views across Loch Linnhe and the Morvern mountains.
Knockinaam Lodge - Valentine's/Gourmet Weekend Special Offer
PORTPATRICK
In the lea of the cliffs, overlooking a private beach on the rugged Galloway coast, Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge offers a great sense of escape.
Glenfinnan House Hotel - Three nights for Two Special Offer
FORT WILLIAM
Built for a veteran of Culloden and remodelled in Victorian times, Jane MacFarlane’s stone mansion stands in a breathtaking situation on the shores of Loch Shiel, with views of Ben Nevis and the Glenfinnan Monument.
Trigony House - Three Nights for Two Special Offer
THORNHILL
In springtime, the drive up to Jan and Adam Moore’s 18th-century former sporting lodge is ‘lined with young trees in blossom, bulbs everywhere’.
Forss House - Free Bottle of Wine Special Offer
THURSO
Near the mainland’s northern tip, Ian and Sabine Richards’s Georgian mansion is surrounded by woodland and waterfall on the Forss river, a fishing hotspot.
Loch Melfort Hotel
OBAN
‘A more beautiful setting than this peaceful bay could hardly be wished for.’
Kinloch House
BLAIRGOWRIE
‘So nice to come back here,’ writes a trusted reader, on returning to the Allen family’s creeper-covered Victorian country house on a hillside above a peaceful valley.
Killiecrankie Hotel
PITLOCHRY
‘As excellent as ever.’ Regular guests were ‘delighted to report’ this year that this ‘wonderful’ 1840s dower house at the gateway to the Highlands ‘remains unchanged’.
The Peat Inn
CUPAR
An 18th-century former coaching inn, which gave its name to the village that grew up around it, is run today as a restaurant-with-rooms by chef/proprietor Geoffrey Smeddle and his wife, Katherine.
Kilcamb Lodge
STRONTIAN
Amid its own grounds of lawn and woodland, on the shores of Loch Sunart, Sally and David Ruthven-Fox run a welcoming small hotel.
Scarista House
ISLE OF HARRIS
It’s worth driving the long road to Scarista House, with its ‘well-deserved reputation for excellent feasting’ and ‘one of Britain’s most extraordinary locations’.
Coul House
STRATHPEFFER
Approached by a private road, this ‘large, rambling but wonderful’ late Georgian mansion, in ‘magnificent grounds’, is owned and cherished by Susannah and Stuart Macpherson.
Kylesku Hotel
KYLESKU
Grey seals loll the day away along an old ferry slipway on the shores of ‘wild, beautiful’ Loch Glendhu – the ‘superb setting’ for ‘hands-on, energetic’ Tanja Lister and Sonia Virechauveix’s ‘most enjoyable’ small hotel.
The Three Chimneys and The House Over-By
DUNVEGAN
‘We felt comfortable and well fed,’ report readers, following a stay at Shirley and Eddie Spear’s remote restaurant-with-rooms overlooking Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.
Moor of Rannoch-Restaurant & Rooms
RANNOCH STATION
The overnight sleeper from London arrives in the middle of nowhere in time for a breakfast of porridge with Drambuie at Scott Meikle and Stephanie Graham’s restaurant-with-rooms.
Boath House
NAIRN
‘We were looking forward to our stay,’ write Guide insiders, on returning to this classical Georgian mansion in ‘wonderful grounds’, rescued from ruin in the 1990s by Don and Wendy Matheson.
Cavens
DUMFRIES
Merchant Richard Oswald, Cavens’s original owner, helped negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris – now this ‘charmingly run’ Georgian manor house attracts modern-day visitors in search of serenity.
Pool House
POOLEWE
On the shores of Loch Ewe stands a ‘deceptively large’ 18th-century fishing lodge run as a ‘pleasingly eclectic guest house’ by the ‘very welcoming’ Harrison family.
Ballathie House
STANLEY
In 1922 a young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, as we now think of her) joined a house party at this turreted Victorian country house on the River Tay.
Scotland has some of the most beautiful hotels in the British Isles. With everything from grand, classical mansions to intimate restaurants with rooms, there’s something for everyone. This selection is taken from our hotels in Scotland.