This isn’t the time of year for frugal B&B stays, wind whistling through gaps in the window frames. Reward the hard work of the year gone by with a weekend at one of these plush boltholes. Each is a destination in itself, and one is an eye-popping bargain
Turn the page for four spoil-yourself retreats →
BIG BEN, BIGGER SKIES Ben Nevis rising behind Inverlochy
LAIRDLY HIGHLAND KEEP
Inverlochy Castle, Torlundy, Fort William, Scotland (inverlochycastlehotel.com)
SCOTTISH COMFORT Inverlochy is equipped for the high-end visitor with its black Rolls-Royce, whisky selection, smart food and comfy sitting rooms
WHY IT’S GREAT
If you want to feel cosseted, pampered and indulged, there’s no better place than this 19th-century baronial-style pile. The setting is picture perfect: the manicured grounds include a loch, a small boating lake and an exquisite walled garden ideal for a stroll. In winter, Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis, acts as a snow-capped backdrop to the hotel’s plush luxury.
Time seems to have stood still in the chandeliered Great Hall with its grand staircase. Walls are woodpanelled or poshly papered, carpets are speech-hushingly thick but the look never tips over into tartan twee.
THE FOOD BIT
The kitchen is overseen by Albert and Michel Roux Jr and is quintessential country house hotel, but not set in 70s-style aspic. Nibbles and aperitifs are taken by the fire in the Great Hall before diners move into the candlelit dining room.