Stay in a Castle

Enjoy browsing details of our top six featured castles. But don't forget
that we will always try to meet requests for particular castles to stay in

Dalhousie Castle Dalhousie Castle is a particularly successful conversion of a castle into a luxury hotel: cross the dry moat, see where the old drawbridge was fixed to the wall, stroll through the fine entrance hall (once a courtyard), dine in the barrel-vaulted dungeon, don’t risk the water from the old well, avoid the pit prison, and relax amongst 800 years of history! The property belonged to the Ramsays from the 13th century and the courtyard dates from this time; the well is 15th century.
In 1633 William Ramsay was created 1st Earl of Dalhousie and had the castle much extended and remodelled. The family continued living here until 1900 during which time they entertained Oliver Cromwell, Sir Walter Scott and Queen Victoria, all of whom have themed bedrooms named in their honour. And the wonderful thing about Dalhousie is that this four star hotel is all contained within the 17th century building – no modern annexes.
Dalhousie Dungeon Robert the Bruce Room	Sauna & Spa As part of their commitment to total relaxation, they also offer Sauna and Steam rooms to which residents have free access. There is also a hydro spa which needs to be reserved in advance. Rooms: There are 29 rooms in the castle itself, seven more in the Lodge. The historically themed rooms are just sensational in their opulence and fine traditional furnishings – a real treat! ‘Standard rooms’ are less fabulous but still both stylish and historic. twins and four doubles. Prices: The themed rooms cost GBP 250 to 365 per room per night for bed and breakfast. Standard rooms for double occupancy are GBP 195 - 220 and a lodge double is GBP 195. Dinner: Follow the worn flags of an ancient stone stairway and you find a barrel vaulted dungeon with weapons and armour decorating the rough hewn stone work. Dinner here is GBP 38, (not including suites and coffee). Locality: Central Edinburgh is only 20 minutes drive, and Rosslyn Chapel, recently featured in the Da Vinci Code as a possible resting place of the Holy Grail, is only five miles away. This is also a great jumping off point for the Border Abbeys and historic castles such as Floors and Traquair. Access: About twenty minutes drive from airport and railway station alike, Dalhousie is also on the arterial A7 Carlisle to Edinburgh road.
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Castle Stuart Castle Stuart, on the Moray Firth, is perhaps the grandest tower house to be built in the Highlands in the 17th century. This is not surprising as it is owned by the Earls of Moray whose ancestor James Stewart, later Regent of Scotland, was given this land by Mary Queen of Scots, his half sister. Two square towers protect the main entrance and watchtowers cover the back. An Earl's coronet in stone caps the west tower. The honeymoon suite at the top of the East tower is haunted. In the 18th century, the Earl of Moray offered a reward to anyone who would spend a night in the room, just to prove that it was NOT haunted. The local poacher, known as "Big Angus" feared neither man nor beast and took up the challenge. Next day he was found face down in the courtyard below, a look of horror on his face.                          So, did he jump or was he pushed?
	Rooms: Four twins and four doubles. Click Here for details of the bedrooms Costs: Bed, Breakfast and a castle banquet with wine is GBP 395.00 per room per night. We regret that Castle Stuart do not accept children under 14 years. Prices for single people on application. They ask for a deposit of £50 per person per night to secure your booking. This is refundable with one week's notice. Locality: Cawdor Castle and Culloden Battlefield are a ten minute drive. Loch Ness is twenty minutes away. A day trip to Skye is quite feasible, as are outings to Speyside distilleries and Dunrobin Castle. Access: Ten minutes from Inverness Airport, to which there are flights from Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast and Luton. Inverness Railway station is fifteen minutes away.
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Borthwick Castle Borthwick is a magnificent U-plan keep, built in 1430 and hardly changed (on the outside) since then. It is a clean, stark building with massive walls rising 110 foot sheer. Inside is an enormous vaulted hall with log fire to match, and a minstrels' gallery. It is also full of history - Mary Queen of Scots and the Earl of Bothwell were besieged here in June 1567; Mary escaped out of one of the windows dressed as a servant boy and was lost for some hours in the early morning mist! The distance between the two towers on the west side is twelve foot. The Borthwicks would release any prisoners able to leap this gap! On the east wall, the damage done by Cromwell's canons is still easy to see. Borthwick is now a hotel. If you ask, they will show you a picture of the castle ghost, a unexplained image in the Great Hall!
	Rooms: Six doubles and two twins in the main castle. A twin and a double (which can be adjoining) in the Gatehouse, about 100 yards from the castle.. Costs: Prices range from GBP 120 per room per night for a twin room with shower, to GBP 200 per room for the Mary Queen of Scots deluxe Four Poster room. Prices include breakfast. Single occupancy is GBP 100 for de luxe, GBP 80 for standard rooms. An extra portable bed or cot in the room costs GBP 15. Dinner: GBP 35 for four courses and coffee. Locality: In addition to Edinburgh to the north, Borthwick is well placed for Melrose and the Borders to the south, Tantallon and Dirleton castles to the east, and the wonderful Rosslyn Chapel with its 15th century carvings a little to to the north west. Access: The castle is about twenty minutes drive from Edinburgh Airport or Railway Station. It is on the arterial A7 road which leads south from Edinburgh to Carlisle.
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Traquair House Traquair is famously the oldest inhabited house in Scotland and its heart dates from the 12th century. However most of what you see is 16th and 17th century and this preoccupation with age distracts a little from the enormous charm and historic interest of this most romantic house, set by the banks of the gently flowing River Tweed. Love and merriment seem more at home here than the hazardous existence of its fiercely Jacobite and Catholic owners, who were for many years anchored in a part of the country that generally held opposing allegiances. A tour of the house is included and you cannot help but be drawn into its history: see the rosary and crucifix of Mary Queen of Scots (an earlier guest of the Lairds of Traquair) and the cradle that once rocked King James VI. A later Stuart prince was the last to see Traquair's Bear Gates open. They are shut now until a Stuart is once more on the throne. The present Laird still lives in a wing of the castle.
	Rooms: Three spacious double rooms, each with bath. Click Here for details of the bedrooms Costs: For two people the cost is GBP 180 per room per night for bed and breakfast. Single charge is GBP 100. Dinner: Not provided, but the Traquair Arms in the village does a good meal. Locality: Traquair is an ideal base from which to explore the Borders: Sir Walter Scott's house at Abbotsford, Neidpath Castle at Peebles and the Border Abbeys at Melrose, Jedburgh and Kelso. Access: Edinburgh is about 50 minutes drive to the north. Carlisle is an hour and a half to the south.
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Bunchrew House When the eighth Lord Lovat was a-courting Lady Jane Stewart, he built her a pretty house on the sea shore some three miles west of Inverness. It was completed in 1621 and, being happy with his gift, Jane married him in the same year. The marriage stone may still be seen in the wall of the Bunchrew drawing room. Later that century the house was sold to Forbes of Culloden, whose descendant erected the monument to the fallen of that battle. In the 19th century, it reverted to the Frasers who extended it in keeping with Lady Jane's original tower house. Bunchrew retains its character as a hotel - and with ever-burning wood fires inside, the sea lapping the garden wall, the ducks beyond and the sensational sunsets, the charm of those days lingers.
	Rooms: Sixteen spacious double rooms, each with bath and shower. One houses a fine antique four poster. Click Here for details of the bedrooms Costs: High season prices are from GBP 190 to GBP 260 per room per night, bed and breakfast. Single cost is twice this. less GBP 50. Additional beds for chidren under 16: GBP 20 including breakfast, for over 16s it is GBP 40. Dinner: GBP 39.50 for three courses and coffee. Local: Beauly is ten minutes away; Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle about half an hour. A day trip to Skye is quite feasible, Access: Bunchrew is three miles west of Inverness on the Beauly road, ten minutes from the railway station, 25 minutes from Inverness Airport.
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Castle Levan Levan is a 14th century keep, later extended with an additional tower to form the present L-shape. The feel of a medieval defensive structure - turnpike stair, turret, and gun loops - contrasts with the warm and sophisticated home created by the present owners. It is set, a little incongruously, between a housing estate and a tumbling woodland burn. From the parapet walkway there are stunning views over the Firth of Clyde, to the Holy Loch and Ben Lomond beyond. Mary of Guise sentenced one chatelaine, Marion Montgomery to death for murdering her tenants, but the sentence was commuted to house arrest. On return from military service her husband was so appalled to hear of her disgrace that he starved her to death. She still frequents her ancient cell.
	Rooms: There are two double bedrooms, one on the second floor with four poster bed and another on the ground floor. Since the bedrooms share a bathroom, the second room will only be sold to other members of the same party. Costs: The price is GBP 85 per person per night for those in the four poster room, GBP 75 per night for those in the 'Guard Room'. Locality: The castle is well placed for exploring Argyll, just across the water, or for a trip south to Ayrshire and 'Burns Country' . If you are heading to the Highlands, then Loch Lomond via the Erskine Bridge, is less than 30 minutes drive. Access: The castle is on the fringe of Gourock which is about twenty minutes from Glasgow Airport.
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