No pool. Still my favourite hotel in Scotland!
Some places earn their place regardless. And I have news about what’s opening next door this spring. #108
If you joined recently subscribed or followed From the Poolside, welcome! I’ll always help you find the right place at the right price. I usually start with a little personal paragraph but you can skip to the good stuff and read the latest review or itinerary below. I look forward to any comments you may have on the content of this newsletter.
I am terribly late at booking our summer holiday. I was secretly hoping that by now we would have finally found our holiday home in Ile de Ré and that it would be where we spend our summer.
Alas, another Easter trip where we visited a few houses, was yet again unsuccessful. I still have hope that we will land our little corner of France by the end of the year. In any case we said it was this year or never!
Because I have let it to late, it’s more difficult to find two weeks available for a villa rental there so I’m looking at a mix of options, staying in one place for a week and then going to the island for the second. Last year, it worked beautifully with Comporta, which I will share my thoughts on very soon.
In the meantime, it’s back to planning and sharing with you our latest escape, which truly was what I call quiet luxury.
Enjoy!
Back to Lundies House, highlands, Scotland
There are hotels you visit once and remember fondly. And then there are the ones you return to. We went back to Lundies House this winter, six years since our last visit- which happened to be in February 2020 just before Covid closed everything - and it was exactly as I remembered. For a place like this, that’s the highest compliment I can give. At around £750 a night including all meals, it’s firmly in “special occasion” territory, which makes that consistency even rarer.
Lundies House is a small manor in the Scottish Highlands, near Tongue on the north coast. It takes a good 2 hours from Inverness airport to drive up. The scenery is just magical so the trip goes in a flash.
It doesn’t feel like a hotel. It feels like staying with someone who happens to be a brilliant host, an extraordinary cook, and has exceptional taste in everything from the linen to the art on the walls.
There’s no pool. I’ll say that upfront, since you’re reading a newsletter called From the Poolside. But some hotels earn their place regardless.
When we arrived, we were lucky: just one other couple in the house. That intimacy is everything here. The salons are warm and inviting, the beds are deeply comfortable, the service hits that rare note, present when you need it, invisible when you don’t.
The food deserves a paragraph of its own. The chef has this great combination of gastronomy and low key cooking expertise, and uses only local, seasonal produce. Dinner is served in a candlelit dining room with painted walls hung with Claire Basler’s work (following our first visit, we ended up buying one of her paintings, now also hung above our dining table).
On Valentine’s night, it was exceptional. All my favourite food: scallops, mussels, venison with a delicious sauce, and then trifle (less my favourite but still good). The manager had teased us earlier in the day saying it would be a communal meal but I guess that the arrival of a movie star and her partner - yes she was sitting next to me- made this less appropriate!
The home made cake that welcomes you when you come back from a walk in the blistering wind is also such a treat. Eating this with a warm cup of tea, by the fire, in the lounge where you are alone, is just pure bliss.
Since our last visit, a sauna has been added. We both tried it and Mr Big, a big sauna fan, stayed in it; I found it perhaps too efficiently hot and retreated to our room. We also finally booked massages, done in the Courtyard, a large, candlelit room with beautiful throws and textures. A genuine addition to the experience.
In the summer you can also enjoy some cold swimming nearby if that’s your thing.
Who it’s for: people who want to genuinely slow down. Couples. Anyone who reads, walks, and doesn’t need entertainment laid on. People comfortable being far from everything, and I do mean everything.
Who it’s not for: families with young children. Anyone who needs a TV in the room, a full spa menu on demand, or noise after 9 pm. If silence unsettles you, this isn’t your place.
Trust me on this one, it’s a delightful, delightful escape.
The details
Lundies House, Tongue, Scottish Highlands
From £600 per night (February rate), including all meals (breakfast, picnic, afternoon tea and diner)
Price varies by season
Massages available on request
Book here: https://lundies.scot/reserve or email hello@wildland.scot , it’s not listed on booking platforms)
New hotel: A first look at Hope — opening this spring
In my January new hotels list, I mentioned that the team behind Lundies House was opening a new property nearby this spring, and that we’d be back in February, which might be an occasion to find out more.
During our stay, we drove past what will be it as it was still a building site. You can make out the activity and wellness centre from the road, but the manor and accommodation are tucked away in the countryside, hidden from view in the way these places tend to be. I got curious and asked the staff. Here’s what I found out.
The design, I was told, will quite different from Lundies House. The owner travelled to Africa, fell for the Singita aesthetic, and brought it home: think wood, leather, something more stripped back and earthy where Lundies House is refined and cosy.
It opens May to October, seasonal, activity-led, better suited to families and groups. But here’s the detail worth knowing: you’ll be able to book across both properties. Lundies House for the intimacy, Hope for the activities or both, for a proper week in the Highlands.
Reservations open April 19th so at the end of this week.
