17 of the best hotels in Scotland

1. Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh

££ | SPA

You’d think someone who had transformed the behemoth Gleneagles resort might take a break. Instead, Ennismore co-chief executive Sharan Pasricha masterminded a sister hotel in the city. His motto seems to be “Go big or go home.” This is clear from the hotel’s location in a former neoclassical Bank of Scotland branch, which now houses the fantastically impressive bar-restaurant Spence in the grand old banking hall. Despite the grandeur, the hotel’s design feels cosy and fun. You’ll get the drift when you check out the 33 rooms. The style is playful: classic repro furniture, wood floors, Roberts radios, the palette a fondant fancy of pinks, teals and soft greens. Rooms 22 and 23 are the best of “Nook Room” cheapies in the attic (in truth, a little over-priced). Location-wise, you’re in a plum spot on St Andrew Square.

2. The Taybank, Perth and Kinross

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It’s the perfect weekender, a gastropub with rooms in the lively village of Dunkeld. Breakfast hampers feature coffee in containers crafted by in-house potter Ellen of Kiln Creative, while teas come from the village shop and fresh croissants are provided by Flora Sheldun of Arun Bakery. Enjoy them in bed — the pared-back, soft-Scandi decor of your (compact) room is hard to leave — or opt for the dining room. In warmer months, you can head to the garden beside the River Tay. But there’s more to this place than just bed and breakfast. After a day exploring Highland Perthshire, The Taybank serves a slyly sophisticated seasonal menu and hosts lively nights in the pub downstairs, often featuring folk music sessions. Weekends don’t come better than this.

3. Mingary Castle, Ardnamurchan

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If the first sight of its 13th century castle perched on a knuckle of rock beside the sea doesn’t go straight to your head, the food at Mingary certainly will. Though chef patron Colin Nicholson’s tasting menus change daily, expect five or eight courses of culinary brilliance, pieced together from whatever is best at the time in the surrounding area. And the four suites? What could have been schlocky faux medieval is saved by the owners’ ruthless eye for unfussy, colourful decor, with the two-bed McCain suite the pick of the bunch. Outside are views to Isle of Mull plus the glorious Ardnamurchan coast. Frankly, the price is excellent for the opportunity to play laird of the castle. Don’t let on.

4. The Roseate Edinburgh, Edinburgh

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The Edinburgh outpost of the Roseate brand is found in a rather grand 19th-century townhouse in the smart West Coates neighbourhood, a mile from the Old Town. Those formal proportions are softened with traditional Scottish elegance in the 34 rooms — wallpaper feature walls, wool throws and tweed cushions, Noble Isle smellies in marble bathrooms. Roseate Junior suites with copper slipper baths are the pick; “Petite” doubles certainly are. Still, this is a boutique hotel that distils the essence of modern Scottish luxury. I’d stay solely for the 100-plus whiskies in its twinkly Ba’ Bar. All in all, excellent value.

5. The Fife Arms, Cairngorms

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Given it was masterminded by art trailblazers Hauser & Wirth, this luxury stay near King Charles’s place in Balmoral was never going to be normal. Nevertheless, there was a collective whistle when the former Victorian sporting lodge launched in 2019. Here, shortbread-tin Scottish decor goes maximalist — art by the likes of Picasso and Freud and riotous opulence are applied to baronial splendour. The supremely comfortable, themed rooms are like art installations, not least the lovely Artist’s Studio room. Tiny Elsa’s Bar is exquisite. Guided activities will take you sampling whiskies, foraging, bush-camping and fishing. Like a Scottish Alice in Wonderland, the Fife Arms is fun, a little bonkers and utterly irresistible.

6. Scourie Hotel, Sutherland

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The nearby Kylesku Hotel is arguably cooler but you can’t beat the Scourie for traditional Highlands character. Surrounded by world-class fly-fishing, it has hosted fishermen for over 170 years. Not that that’s the only reason to stay. The property exudes relaxed, old-world elegance — its 21 rooms are understated, pretty and hugely comfy. In the sitting room there are tweed armchairs beside the fire and shoals of brown trout in cases above the bar. I also liked the gong which announced dinner —menus are straightforward and good, featuring fish from a hotel smokery. By all means stay to join a ghillie on the hotel’s 50 beats. Stay too for the awesome wild landscapes of the north-west.

7. The Grandtully Hotel, Perthshire

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In a nation of heritage hotels, this boutique stay is all about modern romance. Well, that and excellent food — its family owners run the acclaimed Ballintaggart Farm cookery school nearby, so you’ll eat well here, browsing from imaginative gourmet menus. Each of the eight compact bedrooms is unique, but a DNA of relaxed cool runs through the place, with panelled headboards and colour accents, plus fun touches like a record player in room 3. Most have gorgeous views of hills (room 7 has the largest windows, room 8 a rooftop terrace). Come outside, they urge. And you should — sample artisan gourmet truffles by award-winning master chocolatier Iain Burnett at The Highland Chocolatier next door or wander down the River Tay for a peaceful stroll in nature.

8. Kimpton Blythswood Square, Glasgow

££ | SPA

What glamour there is to this Glasgow pile. Formerly HQ to the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, it feels less like a 113-room boutique hotel and more like private members’ club. Cool leather chairs and modern artworks (a nod to Glasgow’s dazzling creative scene) pep up art deco spaces — the lobby and restaurant are knockouts. Rooms are more restrained (thankfully), perhaps rather austere in their symphony of greige but very much sleek metro. The best rooms look out over the Georgian Blythswood Square and the Merchant City is a mile away. Wet day? No problem. The luxury spa is excellent, classic films are on show in the hotel cinema and the bar’s a belter.

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9. Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin

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Perhaps only a wee beauty like this could prompt owner Gordon Campbell Gray, formerly manager of super-luxury hotels in the Middle East and Caribbean, to decamp to a remote dead-end lane. Outside this 19th century pier manager’s house is Loch Linnhe, the mountains of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, and complete silence. Inside, there’s artwork collected by Gordon on his travels. A wood burner crackles in a lounge of rough white walls. Local staff chat. Factor in beige rooms which are comfy rather than impressive and this is far less formal than its sister hotel, the Isle of Skye’s celebrated Three Chimneys. The seafood restaurant is relaxed but as impressive as the one in Skye. Ingredients are so hyper-local that the Pierhouse has its own lobster creel. Reservations are required for dinner.

10. Gleneagles, Perthshire

£££ | SPA | POOL

Jaws dropped in 2021 when the Ennismore group announced its intention to bring the most famous luxury hotel in Scotland — a 1920s golfing behemoth so posh it has its own train station — into the 21st century. We needn’t have worried. The revamp has returned pizazz to what was a dated pile. With swirly carpets ripped out, sumptuous public areas now dazzle. The 232 rooms have been stripped of dark woods in favour of a light, discreetly tweedy look, and furnished with curios. Jazz-age glamour has returned to the bars (plural) and the Michelin-star dining has gone from strength to strength. Heck, it’s even family-friendly. An icon reborn, then. If you miss the old Gleneagles, there’s still the golf course.

11. Monachyle Mhor, Perthshire

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This is a cracking Trossachs stay full of heart and soul. What began as the Lewis family’s B&B in a remote stone farmhouse by Loch Voil has evolved into a boutique hotel which marries Scandi style with Scottish heart. In the hands of the Lewis siblings, it’s a mish-mash of nicely worn antiques and designer dazzle, with low ceilings courtyard rooms. For escape there are five cabins plus a cottage, either quirky or architectural, with windows filled with views of the loch, forest or mountains. There’s no nightlife for miles. Frankly, who cares when there are hyper-local, seasonal gourmet dinners? The result is a bit like staying with friends, albeit friends who are cooler and lovelier than you.

12. The Torridon, Wester Ross

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While Victorian sportsmen came here to shoot around its baronial pile, you’ll be visiting for one of the best luxury stays in the west Highlands. The hotel sits on Loch Torridon, gazing over inky water at muscular Munros that stir the soul. While the old laird might recognise the old-world swagger and woody tone of public areas — you could lose days holed up in the library — bedrooms are winningly country modern , with more budget rooms available in The Stables part of the site. Dinner is served in the excellent 1887 restaurant, where you can take in the improbably beautiful Highlands scenery. An activities centre is on site too — the perfect excuse for a night in the estate’s Whisky Bar afterwards; there are 365 malts to choose from. Good luck.

13. The Bonnie Badger, East Lothian

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The Bonnie Badger was the first restaurant with rooms by Michelin-star chef Tom Kitchen and his Swedish wife Michaela. Located in the heart of East Lothian’s coastal village of Gullane, it’s around a 30-minute drive from Edinburgh, and the seaside town of North Berwick is about 10 minutes away. There’s relaxed style to bust your Instagram account: bespoke wallpapers by a local artist, fine Scottish linens, cushions in heather-pink and grey-blue the colour of the skies, white-marble bathrooms, toiletries by Scottish naturals brand Siabann. Book the Ridge Suite for four-poster romance, or a Superior in the cottage for the dog. The old stables hosts the restaurant. The food? Unfussy, distinctly Scottish, top notch. The Badger in a nutshell.

14. Kinloch Lodge, Isle of Skye

££ | SPA

You feel less a hotel client here, more a guest of the Clan Donald. Isabella Macdonald’s childhood home on a wild Highlands bay is all heart. Clan paintings hang in a sitting room made for late-night yarns. Great-granny’s mahjong set is on display. Bedrooms — eight in the main house, ten in a newer lodge near the shore — are a mite crisper., and most have loch views. Completing the country house atmosphere is the food. Though not officially Michelin-star dining for several years, the restaurant remains stellar: less stuffy than fine dining, equally inventive in showcasing terrific local ingredients. Finish with a dram by the fire pit.

15. Rusacks St Andrews, Fife

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Even if you come here for the golf, you’ll linger for the views at St Andrews’s grand hotel. A multi-million-pound revamp introduced 44 rooms plus a glass-walled rooftop restaurant called 18 in a new wing just a ball’s drop from the sacred fairways of the Old Course. Goodness knows how American owners Marine & Law got it past the council’s conservation people. While they were at it, they zhuzhed the place up a bit, introducing bold Victorian Scottishness to grand public spaces and rooms, and widening the windows. Most rooms in the new wing have a view of the course. The best views are from 18 — true conversation-killers across the Old Course to West Sands beach. Inspired? A rooftop putting green is on the restaurant terrace.

16. Glenapp Castle, Ayrshire

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A Victorian fantasy of turrets and battlements, the former coastal castle of P&O head Lord Inchcape historic 70 miles from Glasgow had a multi-million renovation treatment in 2021. No lightweight boutique here, laddie. This is swaggering baronial luxury — think oak panelling in public areas and, in bedrooms big enough for a ceilidh, canopy beds and swagged curtains that frame views of sea or manicured gardens. A new four-room penthouse is a walloping 4000sq ft. Sustaining the Edwardian stately home illusion is the glasshouse. King Charles has a similar one at Balmoral but I bet his lacks the splendid restaurant. The hotel’s smartest move is to run activities including shooting or fishing like former lairds, wildlife cruises and island glamping. A baronial stay of old, then. Just reinvented.

17. Cheval The Edinburgh Grand

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This high-end pad is housed in the historic Bank of Scotland HQ at the nucleus of the city today. It’s a three-minute walk from Edinburgh Waverley railway station, and moments away from the upcoming Dunard Centre concert hall on St Andrew Square, where you’ll also find a glut of London-origin restaurants. The 50 fully equipped apartments are swoon-worthy and among the best stays in Edinburgh. Hit the travel jackpot by booking one with a double-height ceiling, balcony perch, or a penthouse rooftop terrace. Enjoy a leisurely drink at the on-site cocktail bar — where you can also grab breakfast — and make the most of the gym, which you’ll find in the former bank’s vault.

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