William Wolfe’s 100 best British hotels
The best hotels in Scotland
The 16 hotels in Scotland that made Mr Wolfe’s hundred: privately owned where possible, historic, beautifully placed and properly run.
B
EdinburghThe BalmoralAs its name implies, a historic hotel of baronial grandeur set in the bustling heart of the Scottish capital. All the major attractions are…P
EdinburghPrestonfieldA 17th-century baronial house in its own parkland beneath Arthur’s Seat, decorated in a riot of red, gold and black that would make a…W
EdinburghThe Witchery by the CastleA cluster of gothic suites at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, all tapestries, four-posters and candlelight. It is wickedly romantic and…G
Auchterarder, PerthshireGleneaglesSynonymous with golf, Gleneagles is so luxurious, and abounds with so many facilities, that guests need never look at a set of clubs during…F
Braemar, AberdeenshireThe Fife ArmsA Victorian coaching inn in the Cairngorms, transformed by art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth into one of the most extraordinary hotels in…K
Kingussie, CairngormsKilliehuntly FarmhouseA Scandinavian-Scottish farmhouse in the Cairngorms, where the design is pared back and the landscape is not. Owned by Wildland, it is part…I
Fort William, HighlandsInverlochy CastleA Victorian castle at the foot of Ben Nevis, where Queen Victoria stayed and declared she never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot. She…T
Wester Ross, HighlandsThe TorridonA Victorian shooting lodge on the shores of Loch Torridon, framed by some of the most dramatic mountains in Britain. The whisky bar has…G
Ballantrae, AyrshireGlenapp CastleA Scottish baronial castle above the sea on the Ayrshire coast, with views to Ailsa Craig and the Mull of Kintyre. Glenapp is intimate…K
Isle of SkyeKinloch LodgeThe ancestral home of the High Chiefs of Clan Donald, on the shores of Loch na Dal on Skye. Kinloch is a family house that happens to take…C
Dunblane, PerthshireCromlixA Victorian mansion in 34 acres near Dunblane, owned by a local tennis player of some renown. Cromlix has a private chapel, a fine…M
Balquhidder, PerthshireMonachyle MhorA pink farmhouse at the end of a single-track road in the Trossachs, run by the Lewis family with irreverent charm. The food is excellent…S
Dornoch, SutherlandSkibo CastleAndrew Carnegie’s Highland castle, now the Carnegie Club, where guests are treated as house guests and the bagpiper wakes you in the…O
St Andrews, FifeThe Old Course HotelOverlooking the 17th hole of the most famous golf course in the world, the Road Hole, where many a reputation has been lost. Even…T
Isle of SkyeThe Three ChimneysA crofter’s cottage on the shore of Loch Dunvegan that became one of the most celebrated restaurants in Britain. The rooms, in the House…F
Leith, EdinburghFingalA former lighthouse tender moored in Leith, converted into a floating hotel of great Art Deco elegance by the people behind the Royal Yacht…
EdinburghThe BalmoralAs its name implies, a historic hotel of baronial grandeur set in the bustling heart of the Scottish capital. All the major attractions are…P
EdinburghPrestonfieldA 17th-century baronial house in its own parkland beneath Arthur’s Seat, decorated in a riot of red, gold and black that would make a…W
EdinburghThe Witchery by the CastleA cluster of gothic suites at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, all tapestries, four-posters and candlelight. It is wickedly romantic and…G
Auchterarder, PerthshireGleneaglesSynonymous with golf, Gleneagles is so luxurious, and abounds with so many facilities, that guests need never look at a set of clubs during…F
Braemar, AberdeenshireThe Fife ArmsA Victorian coaching inn in the Cairngorms, transformed by art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth into one of the most extraordinary hotels in…K
Kingussie, CairngormsKilliehuntly FarmhouseA Scandinavian-Scottish farmhouse in the Cairngorms, where the design is pared back and the landscape is not. Owned by Wildland, it is part…I
Fort William, HighlandsInverlochy CastleA Victorian castle at the foot of Ben Nevis, where Queen Victoria stayed and declared she never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot. She…T
Wester Ross, HighlandsThe TorridonA Victorian shooting lodge on the shores of Loch Torridon, framed by some of the most dramatic mountains in Britain. The whisky bar has…G
Ballantrae, AyrshireGlenapp CastleA Scottish baronial castle above the sea on the Ayrshire coast, with views to Ailsa Craig and the Mull of Kintyre. Glenapp is intimate…K
Isle of SkyeKinloch LodgeThe ancestral home of the High Chiefs of Clan Donald, on the shores of Loch na Dal on Skye. Kinloch is a family house that happens to take…C
Dunblane, PerthshireCromlixA Victorian mansion in 34 acres near Dunblane, owned by a local tennis player of some renown. Cromlix has a private chapel, a fine…M
Balquhidder, PerthshireMonachyle MhorA pink farmhouse at the end of a single-track road in the Trossachs, run by the Lewis family with irreverent charm. The food is excellent…S
Dornoch, SutherlandSkibo CastleAndrew Carnegie’s Highland castle, now the Carnegie Club, where guests are treated as house guests and the bagpiper wakes you in the…O
St Andrews, FifeThe Old Course HotelOverlooking the 17th hole of the most famous golf course in the world, the Road Hole, where many a reputation has been lost. Even…T
Isle of SkyeThe Three ChimneysA crofter’s cottage on the shore of Loch Dunvegan that became one of the most celebrated restaurants in Britain. The rooms, in the House…F
Leith, EdinburghFingalA former lighthouse tender moored in Leith, converted into a floating hotel of great Art Deco elegance by the people behind the Royal Yacht…