behuman

Scotland is lovely and The Torrridon is unique, especially if you have room 1,2,3 or 4. One night will not do justice to the place. Perhaps skip The Plockton Hotel, it is very basic, but nice for a langoustines lunch.

Inverlochy is a big overpriced no go, will leave Relais & Châteaux and is under an infamous Malaysian ownership.

In Inverness you may wish to stay at Culloden House, very classical and service minded with an unique GM.

bhrubin

behuman

This is an insider information. Please wait for the guide 2020.

Isle of Eriska is part of the same horrible "management" company and will leave Relais & Châteaux as well. They are too good for them . All have lost their Michelin stars.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ts_in_Scotland

May I attract your attention to the excellent Airds Hotel nearby. Proud Relais & Châteaux and excellent cuisine.

There is one perfect property which is unfortunately part of the same management company: Cromlix House, property of Sir Andy Murray with the very competent GM Graem Green (a former Inverlochy staff member). Unfortunately they are with SLH , which is really the trash bin of Relais & Châteaux.

There are many "big" players entering the Scottish market. The Three Chimneys have recently been sold to a "hotelier" having two questionable properties already, I won't be back.

LinLant

Pausanias

Inverlochy left R&C early this year, maybe even last year. It's now part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

I'm not at all bothered by hotels with R&C, especially not the UK list, where I've had some disasters and they don't recognise club status. I'm sure Torridon was once part of R&C. My feeling is that R&C charge massive fees and offer little in return. I'm fully aware that Inverlochy has dropped under the radar and is not in the Good Food Guide or that Michelin's restaurant entry for it no longer applies as the Roux group have taken it over. That's good in my view - we had a fab time a few years back at Cromlix and their Roux eaterie. Anyway, I'll report back on Inverlochy in October.

Lovethecabin

bhrubin

Pausanias

Inverlochy Castle appears to have relaxed its dress code a little - you no longer need a tie, though you still need a jacket at dinner.

bhrubin

Pausanias

Well done! I think the only place left now demanding a jacket and tie is the Ritz Restaurant in London. They do apply the code with a rod of iron. And rightly so, considering the room. Wiltons might just be another . . .

Tasting menus - I actually refuse to stay at many otherwise appealing places if they only offer that form of dining. I call it my L'Enclume syndrome.

offerendum

I´m disappointed. I would have found it cool if you enter with some green or yellow tweet-jacket, just for the effect

behuman

There are other dining options in Cartmel and I will happily take the table you vacated . Regarding dress code in summer, a jacket is ridiculous (as are the prices at Inverlochy), in France they are fighting now to avoid people dining in (North American style) swimming shorts and to enforce at least a tailored shorts and no flip flop policy .

cjthekid

Just back from Scotland after staying at Isle of Eriska, Gleneagles and Hotel du Vin Glasgow. Some quick thoughts:

Isle of Eriska,

What an amazing location absolutely picturesque. That's pretty much where the amazing ends. We were traveling with another family both booked in Spa Suites. Both suites were in dire need of upgrading and repairs. One room had a mold smell so pervasive they had to bring in room fresheners (that made the issue worse.) Both rooms had bathrooms with paint peeling and chipped tiles. It was very hot and no aircon. We hunted around for water in the room and eventually found a pitcher filled with ice-water, but no glasses to be found. A half burned cigarette was left on the bookshelf at check in. The service was incredibly friendly but inattentive. I would not call this a luxury hotel. We had to ask 4 times before we got a laundry bag and itemization sheet. (Though the laundry showed up quickly 4 hours later at no extra charge, even though it said 48 hours or an upcharge for 24 hour service.) The food at the main dining room for dinner was excellent. Everything else was just okay. The spa deck restaurant was limited and service again, incredibly friendly but slow. Mostly, they are very understaffed. The spa and pool are something similar to a community pool. All that said we still managed to have a lovely stay and didn't let those things bother us... I would just manage your expectations on the level of luxury.

Gleneagles
Having gone from Eriska to Gleneagles was a bit of a shock, I don't think we were ready for that kind of jump in size and crowd. It was jarring to walk in to a hotel and have to wait in line to check in and be surrounded by that many people after being in such a remote location... Normally, I would not like a hotel of that size, but we were two families with small kids and it was perfect. We had a 2 bedroom Spirit Suite which was incredibly well appointed. It looked like a very stylish apartment, too stylish in fact, we had to remove a lot of the decor from toddling hands. Thankfully, very comfortable beds, aircon, and excellent service all around. All of the food we had was very good to outstanding, with Andrew Fairle being the latter. I definitely wouldn't go to Gleneagles looking for a cozy romantic get away, but as a family destination it was fantastic.

Hotel Du Vin
We were only there for one night before our flight home in the morning. It's a lovely place, but don't expect service here either. We booked a deluxe grand duplex suite, which ended up being just one giant room with enormously high ceilings on one level and the bottom a bathroom. Not really a suite. It's in a very quiet suburban location far from the city center, though very convenient to the airport. Again no aircon. It's a very interesting hotel, not suited for families.

This was my first trip to Scotland and I can't wait to visit again, probably doing one of the many highland itineraries from this thread or a Royal Scotsman scotch tasting tour!

bhrubin

Thanks for sharing your experience @cjthekid!

Fortunately, we booked one of the restricted and much newer Hilltop Reserves at Isle of Eriska and will be there in early May--when it's much cooler and we are more easily able to open the windows to get cold air at night (and hopefully no midges). They've also guaranteed us a fan in the room.

Glad to hear the location and restaurant are as good as advertised.

FlyingHighlander

I know its not needed that often, and it's a cost, etc etc. but it still surprises me the amount of Scottish hotels that don't have air conditioning.

I guess living in the US in recent years has conditioned me to expect it everywhere.