News from The McMillan Hotels

Hotel of year is Scotland’s king of the castles

Scotland’s Hotel of the Year Glenapp Castle has received another lordly honour - it has been voted Scottish Castle Hotel of 2006.

Located in Ballantrae, South Ayrshire, on a hilltop overlooking the Irish Sea, Glenapp won the category in the hotelreviewscotland.com Awards following votes from tens of thousands of visitors to the specialist industry Website.

(Pictured: Graham Cowan (centre) with Lea Simpson of hotelreview and judge David Young, former Chief Hotels Inspector of the AA)

The current AA Hotel of the Year for Scotland and Northern Ireland, it has captured a string of awards since opening in 2000 following a six-year restoration. Voted Scottish Luxury Hotel of the Year in 2005, the castle has twice been a Grand Award winner in the Andrew Harper Hideaway of the Year, and previous accolades have included Johansen’s Most Excellent Country House and Scottish Hotel Quality Awards.

A member of the prestigious Relais & Chateax association, Glenapp was once the home of the Inchcape shipping magnates. It has 17 individually furnished and decorated bedrooms.

Welcoming the latest accolade, Graham Cowan, who runs the castle with his wife Fay, commented:

"This is further splendid news for Glenapp, especially since the Award is based on so many votes from guests as well as those in the hotels and hospitality industry. We try to make sure every single guest who comes here goes home and tells everyone they meet about their amazing experience.

"This cannot be achieved solely by the beauty of the castle and its grounds or by fine food and wine. Our guests must know that it is a pleasure for us to have them staying with us and that nothing is too much trouble.  We take a great personal interest in all of our guests and our staff do a magnificent job of attending to their every need with courtesy and a smile."

The 30 acres of grounds include a Victorian walled garden, listed 150 foot glasshouse, gazebo, azalea pond, and many rare and unusual plants and shrubs. Fresh herbs, fruit and vegetables from the gardens are used every day in the kitchen.

Glenapp has also recently introduced wireless (wi-fi) computer access, giving guests broadband speeds from their wi-fi enabled laptops or personal digital assistants (PDAs) without the need to connect to a ‘phone or data line. Installation was particularly challenging since it had to be completed without damaging or visually impairing the historic listed building.

The castle is open to individual guests as an exclusive luxury retreat from April through November and at New Year.  It is available throughout the year for exclusive use reservations, and is a popular exclusive use venue for weddings. Glenapp is also open, by prior reservation, to non-residents for lunches and dinners.

More information can be found on www.glenappcastle.com or by telephoning 01465-831212.

See also: The Scottish Hotels of the Year Award web site

ENDS :: Latest News >> 2006 news