Golf hotels in Scotland
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Pitlochry
In lawned gardens lapped by Loch Faskally, the McMenemie family’s Victorian country house hotel caters especially to evergreen guests who enjoy a gentler pace of life.
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St Andrews
Traditional standards are upheld at this turreted 1920s mansion, one of Scotland’s first country house hotels, which has been owned by the same family for 70 years.
The Colonsay
Isle of Colonsay
It's a scenic crossing from Oban to this island of white-sand beaches, where the one hotel stands on a hillside overlooking the harbour with views to neighbouring Jura.
The Peat Inn
Cupar
Amid rolling countryside, this unassuming roadside inn is so renowned for its outstanding food that it gave its name to the hamlet that grew up around it.
The Airds Hotel
Port Appin
'Spectacular views' across Loch Linnhe to the Morvern mountains are available from some of the rooms, from the fine-dining restaurant (Relais & Châteaux), and from the waterside gardens just across the road from this former ferry inn.
Knockinaam Lodge
Portpatrick
A ‘wonderful country house hotel in a peaceful location by the sea’ this former Victorian hunting lodge comes with panelled walls, log fires, period furniture, the obligatory stag’s head, a dazzling array of malt whiskies, and views across the water to Northern Ireland.
Kilcamb Lodge
Strontian
‘The situation is absolutely beautiful; perfect for wild swimmers,’ write readers this year, in praise of this remote hideaway hotel on the shores of Loch Sunart.
Scarista House
Isle of Harris
The only sounds are the soughing of the sea and the cry of gulls at this remote Georgian manse in an 'extraordinary setting' between a three-mile sandy beach and heather-clad mountains.
Prestonfield
Edinburgh
‘Neatness and sweetness all around, These at Prestonfield are found’, wrote Benjamin Franklin, after a stay at this 17th-century mansion in parkland under Arthur’s Seat. ‘This hotel was wonderful,’ a trusted reader waxes no less lyrical.
Coul House
Strathpeffer
Set amid gardens and woodlands, this Georgian country house has been a labour of love for Susannah and Stuart Macpherson since they first opened to guests in 2003.
Culdearn House
Grantown-on-Spey
Guests can follow the Speyside whisky trail from the Marshall family's bay-fronted Victorian house, then return to sit by the fire with a dram from a list of fine malts and rare single-barrel casks.
The Cross at Kingussie
Kingussie
By a bubbling burn in the Cairngorms national park, Joe and Sarah Jouhal have recently taken over this former Victorian tweed mill which attracts high praise for David Skiggs’ nightly three-course and six course tasting menus.
Cavens
Dumfries
Guests feel ‘very cared for’ at Jane and Angus Fordyce’s Georgian country house, which stands in mature grounds close to the empty beaches of the Solway coast.
Windlestraw
Walkerburn
An Edwardian manor house built in the Tweed valley as a wedding gift for the future wife of a cashmere mill owner is today a small, elegant hotel with a serious emphasis on food.
Barley Bree
Muthill
At the heart of the conservation village of ‘Mew-thil’, with views of the Earn valley and the Grampians, this flower-decked former inn is run by Fabrice and Alison Bouteloup as a welcoming restaurant-with-rooms.
Forss House
Thurso
The River Forss curves around the wooded grounds of this late Georgian country house, run today as a ‘wonderful hotel’ with salmon fishing at the bottom of the garden.
Blackaddie House
Sanquhar
Traditional hospitality, home comforts and creative modern cooking are a winning combination at this mellow-stone manse with the River Nith surging past the garden.
Smiddy House
Spean Bridge
Whichever way you approach, it is a scenic drive to Robert Bryson and Glen Russell’s restaurant-with-rooms, at a crossroads in a south Highlands village.
Knockendarroch Hotel
Pitlochry
‘A stately house with a fairly large garden, quite close to town’ is how John Stewart, founder of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, described this Victorian baronial mansion which in 1951 hosted the first performances in a marquee.
The Inn at Loch Tummel
Pitlochry
'A wonderful setting beside the loch' with views across the water to Schiehallion, the local Munro, makes Jade and Alice Calliva's former coaching inn a superbly relaxing place to stay.
Shieldaig Lodge
Gairloch
With 'wonderful views' of Loch Gairloch, this Victorian hunting lodge on a wooded estate where falconry, fishing and deer stalking can all be laid on for guests now accepts dogs in its bedrooms and bar.
The Ship Inn
Elie
With its own beach cricket team, Rachel and Graham Bucknall’s white-and-blue friendly gastropub on a no through road to the sailing club overlooks a sandy bay on the Firth of Forth.
Burt’s
Melrose
The Henderson family’s well-established hotel stands on the main square of a pretty Borders town, a welcoming landmark for locals and visitors alike.
Caddon View
Innerleithen
‘An excellent base’ for exploring the Tweed valley, Lisa and Steve Davies’s ‘great-value’ guest house is in a small town surrounded by ‘beautiful rolling countryside’.
Loch Gorm House
Isle of Islay
On this southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides, Fiona Doyle runs her ‘clean, comfortable’ B&B in a stone-built house, steps from the shores of Loch Indaal.
Sunny Brae
Nairn
John Bochel and Rachel Philipsen’s ‘good-value’ B&B on the Moray coast stands before ‘the panorama of the sea’, within easy reach of dolphins, dunes and whisky distilleries.
The Meikleour Arms
Meikleour
In a Victorian fishing lodge on the Meikleour estate, owned by the same Franco-Scottish family since 1362, this characterful country inn benefits from a verdant woodland setting and a double-bank salmon beat on the River Tay.
The Kirkstyle Inn & Rooms
Dunning
In a conservation village with history in its ancient stones, this well-liked, log fire-warmed village inn brims with genial hospitality and a traditional pub ethos.
Achray House
St Fillans
Watch the osprey swoop over the water from this ‘likeable’ small hotel, which stands beside Loch Earn within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park – a ‘beautiful part of Perthshire’.
Links House
Dornoch
At once grand and intimate, this sumptuously refurbished hotel overlooking the green at the Royal Dornoch Golf Club has a relaxed, country house feel.
Kinloch House
Blairgowrie
‘After touring Scotland this was our favourite place, and we can’t wait to return,' a trusted reader writes of the Allen family's Victorian mansion, in woodland and parkland, with views over rolling fields to Marlee Loch.
Greywalls
Gullane
One of just two Scottish buildings designed by Edwin Lutyens, this crescent-shaped house by Muirfield golf course is the epitome of Edwardian Arts and Crafts comfort.
Chirnside Hall
Duns
Pack your walking boots, waxed jacket, waders, guns, camera, binoculars – Christian Korsten’s pink-sandstone Borders mansion is very much about the great outdoors.
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
Gazing out over the Ayrshire coast to the Isle of Arran, Glenapp may be towered and turreted, but the Scottish Baronial-style hotel (Relais & Châteaux) is more luxury country house than castle.
Boath House
Nairn
The Matheson family’s classical Regency mansion stands in 22 acres of spectacular walled and woodland gardens, so ‘the rustle of the leaves in the trees’ drowns out any traffic noise from the Aberdeen–Inverness road.
Dalshian House
Pitlochry
In gardens and woodland on the outskirts of town, this ‘blissfully remote’, good-value B&B attracts wild birds, red squirrels and many regular guests, who appreciate its ‘warm, friendly’ atmosphere.
Douneside House
Tarland
An Edwardian Scottish Baronial fantasy mansion, with crow-stepped gables and castellation, stands on the edge of the Cairngorms national park with views over the Howe of Cromar.
The Fife Arms
Braemar
Never was a hotel more thoroughly transformed than this landmark Victorian coaching inn, curated by its owners, the Swiss gallerists behind Hauser and Wirth.
The Bonnie Badger
Gullane
There’s a definite Scandi-Scottish style at Tom and Michaela Kitchin’s gastropub-with-rooms. The impressive beamed restaurant in the former village inn’s horse stables has a stripped-back look, with designer lighting, original stone walls and a massive fireplace, while bedrooms might feature wallpaper with a thistle design or Nordic birch forests.
Bunchrew House
Inverness
On the tranquil shore of the Beauly Firth, this ‘very pleasant’ 17th-century mansion stands in large grounds that lead into woodland laced with walking paths.
Scenic locations and luxurious golf hotels in Scotland
Golf is a sport that really captures the imagination courtesy of international superstars like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, but it’s also very much a passion for people who get involved with it, not least of all because of the spectacular locations across the UK where some of the world’s most famous golf courses reside.
Scotland is a particularly beautiful and at times challenging place in which to play golf. The borders, highlands and coastal courses make for varied climates and environments in which to play, whether you’re a beginner or seasoned pro. Whether you’re looking for a hotel within easy reach of Scotland’s most famous cities – the history and culture in Edinburgh or the fervent character or Glasgow, there’s such a broad reaching selection of hotels available for those interested in golf as well as other country pursuits including fishing and hiking.
Take for example the Balcary Bay Hotel, in an idyllic setting by the water that also provides an extremely romantic setting for visitors enjoying a break with their partner. Equally, foodies will delight in the home made charms of Caddon View, a friendly guesthouse in the Tweed valley.
There’s also a wealth of history at Scotland’s hotels, with the likes of Ballathie House not only providing excellent locations for sports and a particular interest in salmon fishing, but a real sense of Scotland’s past courtesy of impressive architecture and a joyful collection of carefully considered interiors. Similarly, Rufflets in St Andrews is a turreted mansion, built for the widow of a Dundee jute baron in the 1920s and retaining much of the romance of that bygone era.