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Gleneagles isn’t like other luxury hotels. Not only does this stately Scottish bolthole have a den full of ferrets, a deeply zen outdoor sauna and the kind of breakfast that puts Las Vegas’ bountiful buffets to shame, there’s also a spooky wine cellar where you can indulge in a Champagne-drenched feast. Oh, and they’ll let you shoot a gun. Beat that, The Ritz.
If you’ve ever heard anything about Gleneagles Hotel, it’s probably thanks to its world-renowned golf courses. Politics purists might remember its stint hosting the 2005 G8 Summit, when Blair, Bush and Berlusconi hobnobbed over haggis. If you really know your rock’n’roll lore, it might even be to do with Oasis’s gig there for Sony Records execs in 1994.
Even if you’re not concerned with any of the above, Gleneagles’ brand of luxury is pretty easy to enjoy, even when the hotel’s grey stone facade matches the gloomy sky. This 1924-built cathedral to hospitality is glorious, a sprawling pile that’s The Traitors castle minus Claudia Winkleman, but complete with fleets of Land Rover Defenders. And it’s even more glorious when the sun comes out.
What are the rooms like at Gleneagles?
There are 205 rooms and 27 suites on offer here, spread across the Main House and the Braid House wings. These range from the most affordable (though ‘affordable’ would be the wrong word here) to the Estate Rooms and the Signature Suites. These are, unsurprisingly, nuts – some feature their own libraries, roof terraces and private libraries.
What’s there to do at Gleneagles?
Due to the hotel being pretty off-grid, plenty of entertainment is provided within the grounds. There’s an on-site shooting lodge, where you can try your hand at shooting clay pigeons, as well as Frandy Water, Gleneagles’ newly-launched outdoor watersports location. On a reservoir in the nearby Ochil Hills, here you can get stuck into kayaking, canoeing or trout fishing. There’s also climbing, cycling, off-road driving and an on-site horse riding school. Or sweat it out inside a cedar-pannelled hobbit-house of a sauna while a softly spoken sauna-master thwacks you tenderly with birch leaves. Bliss.
What’s the food like at Gleneagles?
There are 11 bars and restaurants, including the newly opened The Cellar x Dom Pérignon in the hotel’s century-old wine cellar, where they’ll fling endless bumps of caviar at you. The American Bar is a standout, where you can casually quaff high-octane tipples from a menu centred around botanicals grown and foraged on the hotel’s estate, and take selfies in the fabulously pink ladies powder room.
DETAILS
Address: Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland, PH3 1NF
Closest transport: Gleneagles Station is a five-minute drive. Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airports are both a 50-minute drive
Price: Ranging from around £500 to over £5,000 a night