35 castle hotels
Castle Hotels in Scotland
Real castles and palaces in Scotland where you can book a room for the night.
scotland · Scottish Borders — near Selkirk
Aikwood Tower
A 1602 Ettrick Valley tower restored by former UK Liberal leader Sir David Steel, whose own Scott family blood connects him to three centuries of the same clan who once called it home
scotland · Aberdeenshire — Blairs, Royal Deeside
Ardoe House
A soap fortune's tribute to Balmoral on the banks of the Dee, its Drawing Room and Whisky Bar serving afternoon tea daily to guests and outside visitors alike
scotland · Perth and Kinross — Pitlochry
Atholl Palace
A Victorian temperance-era hydropathic institute built for water cures and Turkish baths — today a 107-room hotel with its own museum open to day visitors for £3
scotland · Argyll — Barcaldine, near Oban
Barcaldine Castle
Black Duncan Campbell's 17th-century garrison tower on Loch Creran, attacked during the Massacre of Glencoe and still held in restored form as a private castle-hotel
scotland · Scottish Borders — Eddleston, near Peebles
Barony Castle
A reiver-era peel tower on the medieval Anglo-Scottish frontier, whose grounds hold the world's largest relief model of a country — and whose public access is not just offered but legally guaranteed
scotland · Clackmannanshire — Menstrie
Broomhall Castle
A mill-fortune Baronial mansion at the foot of the Ochil Hills, its restaurant open to the public seven nights a week with views to Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument
scotland · Dumfries and Galloway — near Castle Douglas
Buittle Castle
The Balliol dynasty's ancient Scottish capital, its strategic use tracing back to Roman times, now hired exclusively by descendants of the same family — with seasonal Tea & Tours open to the public
scotland · Loch Lomond — near Balloch and Alexandria
Cameron House
The novelist Tobias Smollett's family seat on Loch Lomond — a lake he preferred to Garda, Como and Geneva — now a 5-star resort whose rooftop infinity-pool spa is bookable by non-residents
scotland · East Lothian — Musselburgh
Carberry Tower
The 16th-century tower where Mary, Queen of Scots' forces surrendered to rebel lords in 1567, expanded by David Bryce into a multi-award-winning castle-hotel that has hosted Queen Elizabeth II
scotland · Aberdeenshire — near Kemnay
Castle Fraser
One of the grandest of the 'Castles of Mar,' home to the Fraser family for over 400 years — now a National Trust for Scotland property where you can also spend the night in the castle's own East Wing
scotland · South Lanarkshire — Coulter, near Biggar
Cornhill Castle
One of Scotland's most singular French Renaissance châteaux, designed by William Leiper for a Glasgow merchant's India fortune, now a 4-star country hotel with a restaurant open to non-residents
scotland · Scottish Borders — near Peebles
Cringletie House
David Bryce's 1863 Baronial replacement for a ruined 17th-century house, its Maguire Lounge and Conservatory serving afternoon tea daily to residents and non-residents alike
scotland · South Lanarkshire — High Blantyre, near Glasgow
Crossbasket Castle
The 15th-century tower where chemist Charles Macintosh reportedly perfected his waterproof fabric now anchors a £10 million restoration and Scotland's newest 5-star castle-hotel
scotland · Midlothian — Bonnyrigg, near Edinburgh
Dalhousie Castle
The Ramsay family held this castle longer than almost any other Scottish family held any other castle — from 1280 until it became a hotel in 1972 — and its stone-vaulted dungeon is now a restaurant open to non-guests
scotland · Edinburgh — between Kirknewton and Ratho
Dalmahoy
William Adam's 1725 Palladian house for the family that recovered the Loch Leven Castle keys thrown by Mary, Queen of Scots' captors, now a 215-room country club with two publicly bookable championship golf courses
scotland · Perth and Kinross — Spittal of Glenshee
Dalmunzie Castle
A remote 6,500-acre Highland Perthshire estate first recorded in 1510, with its own nine-hole golf course open to the public and a private railway once built just to reach it
scotland · Clackmannanshire — Dollar
Dollarbeg Castle
A railway magnate's 1887 Gothic Baronial mansion — reputedly the last of its kind ever built — that served as an RAF radar station in the Second World War and now rents as exclusive-use apartments including its own tower and cinema room
scotland · Sutherland — Dornoch
Dornoch Castle
The Bishops of Caithness' 1500 palace beside Dornoch Cathedral, burned in a clan feud, later a school and jail, now a hotel with the world's number-one-rated whisky bar
scotland · East Lothian — near Tranent
Faside Estate
Granted by the monks of Newbattle Abbey in 1189 for the 1st Earl of Winchester, fought over during the last pitched battle between Scotland and England, and bookable today by the room or hired exclusively as a private castle
scotland · Perth and Kinross — Pitlochry
Fonab Castle
A Victorian port-and-sherry dynasty's Highland mansion, rebuilt into Pitlochry's only 5-star hotel — with a Woodland Spa day visitors can book without ever booking a room
scotland · Ayrshire — Ballantrae, southwest coast
Glenapp Castle
David Bryce's Scottish Baronial masterpiece above the Firth of Clyde, restored across six years by the family who still run it as one of Scotland's most exclusive small hotels
scotland · Argyll and Bute — Oban
Glencruitten House
Oban's newest hotel occupies a 1897 Baronial mansion with later work by architect Sir Robert Lorimer, set in 17 acres of woodland with resident alpacas and a well-known daily Afternoon Tea
scotland · Highlands — Invergarry, Great Glen
Glengarry Castle Hotel
David Bryce's 1866 Baronial mansion shares its Great Glen estate with the genuinely medieval ruin of Invergarry Castle, seat of the Clan MacDonell chiefs and twice visited by Bonnie Prince Charlie
scotland · Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute
Glengorm Castle
A Victorian Baronial mansion on the wild northern tip of Mull, now booked entirely as self-catering apartments and cottages since its bed-and-breakfast operation closed in 2022
scotland · Highlands — near Fort William
Inverlochy Castle Hotel
Not the ruined 13th-century Inverlochy nearby, but a Victorian baronial mansion Queen Victoria called the most beautiful and romantic place she had ever seen — now a 5-star Relais & Châteaux hotel below Ben Nevis
scotland · Highlands — Invergordon, Ross-shire
Kincraig Castle
A Georgian house turned Baronial mansion for a Clan MacKenzie heir back from a fortune in India, now a 4-star hotel with an AA-Rosette restaurant open to non-residents every day
scotland · Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides
Lews Castle
A Gothic Revival mansion overlooking Stornoway harbour, now a 23-room hotel beside a free museum holding six of the 12th-century Lewis Chessmen
scotland · Highlands — Tain, Ross-shire
Mansfield Castle
An 18th-century Ross-shire estate renamed for its 19th-century owner, rebuilt as an imposing Victorian mansion and today an award-winning restaurant hotel five minutes from Tain
scotland · Aberdeenshire — Oldmeldrum
Meldrum House
800-year-old Urquhart family land remodelled in grand Jacobean style by Archibald Simpson, its Knights Golf Course reserved for hotel guests and pre-booked golf packages rather than open to the general public
scotland · Midlothian — Lasswade, near Edinburgh
Melville Castle
A Georgian mansion built on East India Company money for one of the most powerful men in 18th-century Scottish politics — with a three-tier Afternoon Tea now open to anyone, no room required
scotland · Scottish Borders — Peebles
Neidpath Castle
One of the most authentically unrestored towers in the Borders, where Mary, Queen of Scots slept by firelight in 1563 — now offering both private guided tours and a cottage named for her visit
scotland · Glasgow — Pollokshields
Sherbrooke Castle
A Royal Glasgow Institute-exhibited Baronial mansion that trained Admiralty recruits in the Second World War, now a 4-star hotel in the quiet south-side neighbourhood of Pollokshields
scotland · Argyll — Tarbert, Kintyre Peninsula
Stonefield Castle
William Playfair's 1837 Baronial mansion above Loch Fyne, where the Barmore Bistro has explicitly welcomed non-residents and hotel guests alike since 1950
scotland · Scottish Borders — Lauder
Thirlestane Castle
John Maitland's 1590 fortified house above the Leader Water, rebuilt by Sir William Bruce for the 1st Duke of Lauderdale, offering both seasonal guided tours and 5-star self-catering apartments within the same walls
scotland · Highlands — Dingwall
Tulloch Castle
One of Scotland's most reputedly haunted castles, home to the Clan Davidson for centuries, on a site with a possible 12th-century Norse fortress at its core