The Glenmorangie House

Different, quirky, extremely friendly, impeccably clean and amazing food and of course Whiskey! Very helpful and polite staff. The house party style is not normally our thing but this was exceptional. We enjoyed every minute of our stay in room ‘Home’ and would definitely highly recommend.

This country house is set on beautiful grounds and was completely redone recently with an eclectic but luxurious style that reflects some of the branding of Glenmorangie whiskey. I suspect that LVMH manages this property as a kind of flagship for the whiskey brand rather than as a standalone hotel. And they do it well. We were a little hesitant about the "country house party" concept with communal dining, but it worked wonderfully. We were there for three nights and really enjoyed the opportunity to spend evenings with the other guests, who hailed from five countries. Our hosts, Charlotte and Amy, were very engaging and worked long days to make our stay comfortable. They checked us in, helped arrange activities, served cocktails, served dinner, led us through whiskey tastings, and joined us in the living room after dinner. Their warm and informal hospitality really made it feel like we were at a friend's home rather than a hotel. The four course dinners and wine pairings were creative and among our best meals in Scotland. We stayed in a couple of "cottages" just across the newly re-landscaped courtyard in the back of the house. These were comfortable with a bedroom and small sitting room. It was a short but sometime wet walk to the main house, but there was a room at the rear entrance literally full of boots, rain jackets, and umbrellas available for guest use. There is a lot to do in the area. In addition to castle and distillery tours, there are many outdoor activities. We worked with Kurt at Connell Outdoor Pursuits and Phil and the Highland Shooting Centre for archery and clay shooting. Both were great to spend time with and would make it easy to set up hunting or fishing as well.

They want the hotel to have a house party vibe rather than a formal hotel style. However, it would have been useful to have a way of making our presence known when we arrived rather than having to go in search of a member of staff. Once found the staff member was friendly, informative and charming, happy to give us a tour of the building, explaining the reasons behind the quirky decor. Rooms are decorated with the brand in mind, a torch burnt dresser represented the whisky barrels but touch it and the charcoal comes off on your hand. (Why no matt varnish to make it clean and durable?) . Some elements of the decor are fabulous but occasionally let down by inconsequential imagery. Our bedroom was bright and highly patterned, lots of floral wallpaper and soft furnishings. Very comfortable beds, good straightforward bathroom with Molton Brown toiletries. There was a kettle and tea bags in the room but no easy place to plug in the kettle and coffee had to be made in a cupboard in the corridor where there was a Nespresso machine with a great selection of coffee pods along with biscuit/oat bars. Dinner was preceded by all dinner guests gathering in the sitting room for canapés and drinks. ( in fact it was one canapé of shreds of beef cheek on a spoon). We were called through to the dining room ( great table and lighting, tacky art) for a four course tasting menu. No choice unless there were food allergies. the starter was parsnip and apple risotto, then salmon and quinoa followed by pork belly which we were told had been cooked for 5 days, a sticky piece of pork loin and a potato fondant. Dessert was the best course - mango brûlée and apple and basil sorbet ( yes, 2 of the 4 course featured apple). The meal was average, not very hot and under seasoned. Breakfast was served in another dining hall, coffee served in a large pouring thermos, juices incorrectly labelled which led to us pouring pineapple juice thinking it was apple. The Scottish breakfast was not great, my husband thought the sausage poor and the blend of haggis and black pudding was so yucky he couldn’t eat it. On our way out of the dining room we saw a table with cheeses and charcuterie but nobody had told us it was there and it wasn’t obvious. Overall there was a sense of style over substance.