Inside the UK’s most ‘jaw-dropping’ hotel

As the only UK hotel to feature in the world’s most ‘jaw-dropping’ hotels, as ranked by travel website TravelGround, we went to check-out Scotland’s very own Atholl Palace Hotel, writes Diane Evans.

“Sitting alongside the Tree Hotel in Sweden, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and glass ‘igloos’ in Finland, the Pitlochry-based Atholl Palace Hotel is not the most likely winner of the accolade –  ‘one of the 28 most jaw-dropping hotels in the world’.

But TravelGround listed it 22^nd out of 28 for its turret suites, manor house rooms and formal gardens.

For more than 140 years visitors have been travelling this Perthshire gem to stay at one of Scotland’s most impressive while also affordable country retreats.

When it first opened in 1873 it was known as the Athole Hydropathic but today the brown tourist signs took us to the Atholl Palace Hotel, perched prominently on a mountain side gazing down on the stunning local countryside.

The entrance to the hotel couldn’t be grander. A long winding path opens out 48-acres of gardens with lush green lawns and tennis courts – a modern nod to its health-conscious, therapeutic past. Walk into the lobby and we were met by welcoming staff who dealt with our check-in pleasantly and efficiently.

Our room was on the third floor which allowed us breath-taking views of the local scenery complete with the River Tummel continuing its centuries-old course.  Inside, the room was smart, clean and well-equipped including a bowl of fresh fruit and a plate of chocolate which was quickly devoured.

Like many hotels of this age and size, it bears the scars of time with patches of historic damp above the entrance door but ongoing maintenance must seem like the proverbial painting of the Forth Bridge and to be fair, the building looks fine. Indeed the current owners of the 106-room hotel, Castle Collection of Hotels, are in the midst of a renovation project which has seen every floor upgraded and modernised – a huge undertaking and confirmation of its importance to the firm.

One of the consequences of that project was that some areas of the spa were closed during our overnight stay but hey, we weren’t moaning. Instead we took a walk through the grand lounge area with its tall Victorian ceilings, open fires and numerous paintings and photographs cataloguing the intriguing history of the Atholl Palace under its many guises.

There’s a library and conference rooms, hunting-inspired bar and even a museum in the basement chronicling the fascinating history of the hotel which first opened as a spa retreat for health-conscious Victorians, complete with chaperones for the younger ladies. It has held national tennis tournaments and served as a school on two occasions during wartime as well being used by the Scottish Government as a cabinet venue under Alex Salmond.

It even launched an array of teambuilding options last August, in response to changing trends, offering alfresco cooking and painting classes in the secluded grounds.

But for us, we just wanted somewhere to relax and eat well. The evening dinner ticked both boxes. Under the matriarchal eye of attentive head waiter Howard Davis, we enjoyed fine fare from the hotel kitchens. I had prawn cocktail followed by quail while my husband had mushroom soup and then the fish. It was followed by an excellent array of cheese – unpretentious and quality dishes delivered with aplomb. We then enjoyed coffee and a nightcap on a sofa in front of a roaring fire – space and seating options are not an issue at the Atholl Palace Hotel. The perfect end to a relaxing night.

One thing we hadn’t been able to enjoy during our evening meal though was the view from our table. That was rectified at breakfast the next morning when we ate our breakfast overlooking the sun-soaked brown and green landscape of this corner of Perthshire.  There was plenty of choices, hot and cold, from the buffet while my husband ordered kippers from the kitchen which were surgically filleted by Howard.

It was a shame to leave so soon with our batteries only half-charged. Based only 60 minutes from Edinburgh and 90 minutes from Glasgow, the Atholl Palace Hotel offers solace from the modern world.

There’s no doubt the hotel benefits from its location, as many of the other ‘jaw-dropping’ hotels do. It’s conveniently placed on the edge of the stunning Cairngorm mountain range, close to the historic Blair Atholl Castle and estate and in the middle of a pretty Victorian town complete with coffee shops and its own salmon fish ladder.

But the service, space, serenity and structure itself make it that bit more special.”

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