Romantic, deluxe WE/hotel & restaurant in Scotland... any idea?

[pupuce]

We will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.... we are looking for a special WE... I want good (great) food, lovely "country" accomodation (not too much into the contemporary look myself...) I want to dink drams of whisky by the fire place, have a lovely breakfast... and do very little or maybe out to walk (depends on the weather).... we are never ever without kids but this time kids won't be with us.... I will need to save up big time so I am already looking at ideas to see how much I need to save....

Any suggestion ? Thanks

Any particular area pupuce? We celebrated our anniversary in a lovely hotel in Troon- don't know if that's the kind of place you're looking for.

Dunkeld is gorgeous - Perthshire. It was a Stakis, now a Hilton so very nice. 4 poster beds etc, lovely grounds and fireplaces of course!

Dalhousie Castle nr Edinburgh. Small castle converted into a luxury hotel in beautiful countryside but only 20 mins out of Edinburgh. Make sure that you avoid a wedding party as in a hotel that small it could be a bit offputting!

Sharrow Bay or Gilpin Lodge in the Lake District. Have a look at one of the Johansen guides on the web. They have a pretty comprehensive review of deluxe hotels throughout the UK.

Cameron House near Loch Lomond. Lovely.

What about Gleneagles? one of the best around but unfortunately has the price tag to reflect this but it is absolutely fabulous.

if you can venture out to the isle of skye, definitely go to the The Three Chimneys , restaurant and rooms, me and dh went there just before we hadd dd and it was absolutely gorgeous!!!, beautiful views, incredibley peaceful, the hotel part looked absolutely lovely with gorgeous views... and the food was fantastic, locally produced, super fresh sea food and very very relaxed and informal (we were a bit nervous as we were muddy and wearing walking boots!) thoroughly reccomend it and if you go... can i come to?

p.s. it's had loads of really good reviews!!! it was the first (and last) place i had ever read about and then had actually gone there!!

johansens

pps i meant 'too'

We spent our (very short) honeymoon in the Cromlix house. We had the turret suite and even had dinner served in our room. Sigh!

www.cromlixhouse.com/tour.htm

to put the cost in persepective, we only had 2 days for the honeymoon!

The one in Troon is the Piersland House, overlooking the golf course where this year's open was ( not that that made any difference to me!)

The other option that we have done is The Old Course in St Andrews. Has a wonderful Spa to relax in, the food is excellent. There is a rather swish 'hunting Lodge' effect room where you can sit in front of the fire and sip a dram or two, the food is excellent, the beds nice and big to bounce around in (Ahem, ), beautiful walks down the 7 mile beach (seen in the start of Chariots Of Fire), and breakfasts to die for! What more could a woman ask for? Possibly the cashmere shop just down the road!

Cromlix is wonderful tho!

I'd second the Three Chimneys recommendation for food quality and restuarant ambience; however the accommodation is modern in style, not traditional and also I don't think (I might be wrong but fairly certain not) that they have a fireplace you can have a wee dram by. Apart from that it's fabulous like Bea says and you can't beat it for location - slap bang on a sea loch, fabulous sunsets, middle of nowhere kind of feeling.

I would have said that the Three Chimneys was my favourite restaurant up here until we went here a couple of years ago - Scarista House - it hits the fireplace and non-contempary requirements also.

Cameron House is lovely. You might be able to get a deal if you can have your "weekend" midweek. We once went for about £125 for the two of us for bed b'fast and dinner. Sometimes its easier to leave the kids with someone during teh week as they only have to look after them after school. Get a relative to come to your house to care for them. just a thought

Congrats on the anniversary BTW

How about here ? Dh and I stayed here when I was pg with dd1 (our last break as a civilised couple!). The room was gorgeous, the food was just fantastic, out of this world, the service was great, and IIRC there is an open fire to have your wee drams by!

The chap and his wife who run it are great - he's the kind of guy who is always there when you need him but not intrusively. There is a huge range of whiskies on offer too. The hotel is very Victorian in style - we found it very romantic. The circular room in the picture is a sitting room, complete with curved doors and windows! It is a non-smoking hotel.

One thing to note - it's not clear from the website but they have got an annexe since I went there - try to make sure you get in the main part of the hotel as that is the bit that has the most character. I think the annexe is actually a separate building, not sure.

Last year DH booked us into the Loch Torridon hotel as a surprise.
It is incredibly romantic as overlooks the Loch - miles from anywhere (fly to Inverness and drive across). The best thing about it is that there were over 100 single malts in the bar - I didn't even like whiskey until I went there and now I am hooked (can't wait until end Oct and then can start the habit again .
Also good walks all around if you can survive the midges!
The restaurant is also one of the best - mostly organic and homegrown.
Seriously cannot recommend this place enough

Greywalls is the sort of place you could (almost) believe you (sort of) lived there, it doesn't have a hotel feeling at all. The feeling that is there instead is just pure indulgence. It's an Edwardian country house about 20 miles south of Edinburgh on the coast. We just went for a meal ... not swish enough to stay there... but the lounge area was just like a rather grand living room with a generous allocation of handsome upholstery. Cushioned window seats where you can gaze out into the garden. The food is impeccable and getting rather famous. I wish I could recommend somewhere further north to you as it sounds rather like that's what you fancy but we just Aren't Swish Enough to know about anywhere.

The bit about drinking whisky by the fire, however, sits well with this place.

There will be a website I'm sure.

The Western Isles Hotel in Tobermory on the isle of Mull is a lovely hotel and has fantastic food.

Dh and I spent 4 days over New Year there once with dh's dad and some friends, it was a package deal thing with a ceilidh and everything and it was great.

Good food, fireplaces, a lovely patio/terrace to sit out on, we didn't do that since it was the middle of winter but it looked nice. There is a gorgeous view of the Mull of Kintyre out of the breakfast room window. And there are some great walks to go on as well. I'd love to go back one day as I have some lovely memories.

this is the link

You must check out The Royal Hotel in Comrie ( they have a web site). We go there every year and stay in the four poster room which is £150 a night but I think they do a dinner, bed and breakfast deal if you stay more than one night. This room has an open fire in it whch you can request to be lit for your arrival. The restaurant is fab, service superb and the bar is lovely - all sanded floors, big fire and squashy seats. There is also a lovely library room. I also recommed the Roman Camp Hotel in Callander but it's more expensive, a bit posher and not so 'homey'.

Dulnain Bridge is pretty - I went to a wedding here . We didn't actually stay there but it was lovely. I wanted to stay here . But it was booked up. One day...

Loads of great ideas... thanks - will look in details at each one....
DH is saying what about Wales??? Maybe I need to start a thread for that destination!
We have considered the 3 chimneys but it will probably be too expensive... DH says 3 days there then why not go to NY for 3 days..... hmmmm...

missed this pupuce!!! another vote for the Three Chimneys, it really is worth the money. I would prefer it to ny any day!!