Golf hotels in Scotland
The Green Park - Free Theatre Ticket Special Offer
Pitlochry
Ironwork sculptures adorn the wide lawn that borders Loch Faskally at the McMenemie family’s extended Victorian country house, along with waterside seating areas.
Forss House - 'Escape to the Scottish Wilderness' Special Offer
Thurso
The River Forss loops around this late Georgian Highland retreat in wooded grounds, today a dog-friendly hotel that is ideal for anglers, with shooting, stalking and hiking also on offer.
Shieldaig Lodge - Food Lover's Package
Gairloch
Once a Victorian hunting lodge, this ‘unpretentious’ hotel makes the most of both its history and its West Highland geography on the banks of Loch Gairloch.
Bunchrew House
Inverness
In a ‘lovely position’ by Beauly Firth, this handsome 17th-century mansion stands in large grounds that lead into woodland laced with walking paths – look out for the brown hares and roe deer who like to visit.
Rufflets - Luxury St Andrews Midweek Staycation Special Offer
St Andrews
One of Scotland’s first country house hotels, this turreted 1920s mansion in tranquil, ‘elegant’ gardens is owned by Mark and Christopher Forrester, grandsons of two of the original founders.
The Peat Inn
Cupar
Lending its name to the hamlet that grew up around it, this former coaching inn turned restaurant-with-rooms held Scotland’s first Michelin Star in 1987.
Knockinaam Lodge
Portpatrick
‘A stiff walk from Portpatrick along the cliffs’ brings you to Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge overlooking the Irish Sea.
The Foveran
St Ola
Stunning sea views accompany the food at this ‘welcoming’ restaurant-with-rooms, where the dining room overlooks the sheltered waters of Scapa Flow and the southern Orkney Islands.
Kilcamb Lodge
Strontian
You need to take a ferry crossing before traversing a mountain pass and a deep glen to arrive at this ‘superb country house in a remote and extraordinary setting’ with a private beach on a loch shore with mountain views.
Scarista House
Isle of Harris
There are few more remote hotels in the Guide than this Georgian former manse, in a ‘spectacular’ setting between a white-sand beach and heather-clad mountains.
Prestonfield
Edinburgh
Wrapped in parkland, this gleaming white country house that is only ten minutes from the city centre takes luxury to hedonistic levels, with lavish decorations and indulgent service.
Coul House
Strathpeffer
A private road leads to this singular Georgian mansion in lovely gardens and grounds, with ancient trees, a pitch-and-putt area, and a fairy trail through the rhododendrons for children.
The Manor House
Oban
‘A haven of comfort and good food,’ writes one regular reviewer of this small hotel on Oban Bay.
Culdearn House
Grantown-on-Spey
On the edge of the Cairngorms national park, William and Sonia Marshall’s bay-fronted Victorian house looks on to a tract of the ancient woodlands that surround Grantown-on-Spey.
The Cross at Kingussie
Kingussie
Amid the wooded mountain scenery of the Cairngorms national park, a Victorian tweed mill once driven by the rocky, rushing Gynack Burn lives on as a restaurant-with-rooms.
Cavens
Dumfries
Jane and Angus Fordyce demonstrate ‘a rare combination of relaxed professionalism and high standards’, says a visitor to their Georgian country house.
Windlestraw
Walkerburn
John and Sylvia Matthews’s keen ‘eye for detail’ has lifted this convivial restaurant-with-rooms to the ‘top range of small establishments’ since they took it over in 2015.
Barley Bree
Muthill
A red-stone 19th-century inn in a conservation village took on a new lease of life in 2007 when Fabrice and Alison Bouteloup hung out the flower baskets and opened their restaurant-with-rooms.
Blackaddie House
Sanquhar
The River Nith ripples past the garden of Jane and Ian McAndrew’s old manse and gastronomic destination, in a rolling landscape with views to the Lowther hills.
Smiddy House
Spean Bridge
‘Every visit exceeds expectations,’ writes a fan of Robert Bryson and Glen Russell’s restaurant-with-rooms in a village dubbed ‘the crossroads to the Highlands’.
Gordon’s
Arbroath
Readers are charmed by the warm welcome they receive from hostess Maria Watson and the ‘outstanding food’ created by Garry, her son, at this restaurant-with-rooms in a Victorian terrace house in a village close to the North Sea coast.
Knockendarroch Hotel
Pitlochry
Pitlochry’s renowned Festival Theatre was born in 1951 in the grounds of this Victorian mansion, run today as a welcoming hotel by Struan and Louise Lothian.
Riverwood
Pitlochry
You can gaze out at the River Tay over breakfast at Ann and Alf Berry’s Arts and Crafts-style B&B in wooded grounds on the edge of a conservation village.
Douneside House
Tarland
The feeling of a family home pervades this hotel in brimming gardens on the edge of the Cairngorms national park.
The Inn at Loch Tummel
Pitlochry
A great leap of imagination carried Alice and Jade Calliva from a Croydon flat to the 18th-century coaching inn with spectacular views across the loch to Schiehallion, the local Munro.
The Ship Inn
Elie
Rachel and Graham Bucknall run a happy ship indeed at this village pub-with-rooms on the beach, with view across the Firth of Forth.
Burt’s
Melrose
On the market square of a pretty Borders town, the Henderson family has owned and run this well-established hotel for nearly 50 years.
Caddon View
Innerleithen
‘It’s a delight to stay’ at Lisa and Stephen Davies’s ‘great-value’ guest house in the Tweed valley, say visitors who laud the friendly welcome and home-baked treats on offer.
The Meikleour Arms
Meikleour
In a Victorian fishing lodge on the Meikleour estate, owned by the same Franco-Scottish family since 1362, this friendly country inn benefits from a verdant woodland setting and a double-bank salmon beat on the River Tay.
The Kirkstyle Inn & Rooms
Dunning
Genial Scottish hospitality and a traditional pub ethos are preserved in this welcoming village inn, a log-fire-warmed, fiddle-accompanied hark back to the past.
Achray House
St Fillans
In a picture-perfect setting by the shores of Loch Earn, this small hotel is in a conservation village within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park.
Kinloch House
Blairgowrie
Highland cattle in their jaunty headgear graze fields around this creeper-swagged Victorian country house (Relais & Châteaux), where the Allen family provide ‘a masterclass’ in hotel-keeping, bringing ‘perfection in every respect’.
Ballathie House
Stanley
A Victorian ghost, a Russian duke and a former Prince of Wales have all graced this ‘lovely’ Scottish country house in a ‘delightful position’ on the River Tay.
Greywalls
Gullane
A mere ha-ha separates this Arts and Crafts Edwardian house from Muirfield golf course.
Chirnside Hall
Duns
You will find abundant wildlife to photograph around Christian Korsten’s Victorian country house in the Scottish Borders.
Glenapp Castle
Ballantrae
With sweeping views of Ailsa Craig and the Mull of Kintyre, Paul and Poppy Szkiler’s Scottish Baronial-style castle hotel balances a ‘stunning, grand building’ with ‘relaxed luxury’.
Boath House
Nairn
Hotel grounds don’t get much more ‘exquisite’ than at Don and Wendy Matheson’s ‘beautiful if unadorned’ Georgian mansion, sitting amid 22 acres of lawns, meadows and woodland.
Dalshian House
Pitlochry
Martin and Heather Walls’s ‘blissfully remote’, good-value B&B is in a white-painted Georgian house, in gardens and woodland on the outskirts of town.
The Fife Arms
Braemar
If the annual Braemar Gathering had not put the village on the map, this dramatic reinvention of a many-gabled coaching inn by Swiss art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth would surely do so.
The Bonnie Badger
Gullane
A half-hour drive from Edinburgh, Tom and Michaela Kitchin have turned the old Golf Inn, in a village on the Firth of Forth, into a chic gastropub-with-rooms.
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.