We recently stayed at the Fife Arms in Braemar, Scotland in January 2023, and we still cannot get over how amazing every single aspect of our stay at this five-star hotel was. If you’re wondering if it’s worth the five star hotel price tag or if you’re preparing for an upcoming stay at the Fife Arms, this post has everything you need to know.
What to Know Before Booking the Fife Arms
Getting there
Located in the heart of Scotland’s largest national park, this hotel is definitely a little bit off the beaten path. We found this hotel through Conde Nast Traveller’s list of the best hotels in Scotland, and even though we weren’t planning on going through the Cairngorms on our trip, we took a chance on this hotel being worth the detour. It’s about 2.5 hours from Edinburgh and Glasgow, but there aren’t a lot of main/bigger roads in and out of the park, so you’re not going to be driving on a major interstate. Honestly though, the trip flew by for us because we loved looking at the Scottish countryside and the tiny towns we drove through.
If you want to see our trip in video form, head over to my tiktok now to see a recap of our stay!
Since we went in January, we made sure to triple check that we wouldn’t need 4-wheel drive or snow chains, but the weather and roads in Scotland rarely get too bad to drive. Driving through the Cairngorms definitely takes you through snow, but the roads were all perfectly drivable, and the snowy scenery was dramatically beautiful.
Checking in
Upon check in, you’re immediately enveloped in the heart of the hotel, with a self-playing Steinway piano, Lucian Freud painting, and incredible, roaring fireplace (pictured below). We both agreed that the person who checked us in was maybe one of the nicest people we had ever met, and she gave us our room key, then personally escorted us to our room where she pointed out the complimentary champaign and custom whisky and gin distilled just for the hotel??? It felt unreal.
She also informed us of their daily art tour of the hotel. It happens at 4 p.m. every day, so just after check-in, and it was the perfect opportunity to learn more about the rooms in the hotel, everything they had to offer, and hidden gem spots that we could hang out in during our stay. We were the only two people who joined the tour, and she still spent an hour of her time leading us through the highlights of the hotel diligently.
Our stay
From the time we walked into the hotel, we felt like we were personal guests of a country lord’s estate free to use the property at our leisure, so this was truly unlike any other hotel experience I’ve ever had. Every member of the hotel staff achieved the perfect balance of warm and welcoming, and the level of customer service was just the right amount of “you’re staying at a five star hotel,” and “you should feel at home here.”
Staying at the Fife Arms also almost doubles as staying at a Scottish and Natural History museum – the owners are really invested in the art community and have basically taken this hotel on as a passion project to fill with art they have spent years collecting.
So what did we get up to during our time there? As you might have gathered, the hotel was our real destination here. There isn’t much going on in Braemar, so if you have just one night here, you’re going to want to spend every second in the hotel. Once you come to stay for 3-5 days, that would be the perfect time to get out and explore the Cairngorms, but we knew we wanted to use as many of the hotel’s amenities as possible.
Our room
We chose the most affordable option – one of the nature and poetry rooms. Each room is themed after a different Scottish poet or natural feature, and it was the perfect size to sleep two comfortably! We spent so much time in the hotel common areas, so the size of the room here really didn’t matter much!
It was just what we needed, but if you’re coming to stay with your entire family, they have beautiful bigger suites or rooms that are connected to suit more people.
Each room comes with complimentary champagne, custom whisky and gin especially distilled for the hotel, coffee and milk, and a box of chocolates made in the village. All stays also come with breakfast included, which I will detail more below!
Dining at the Fife Arms
Afternoon tea: Right after we checked in, we sat down to one of the more delicious and memorable afternoon teas I’ve ever done! We were the only two partaking in afternoon tea for the day, so they had set up two places for us to take it so we had our choice. We of course picked the spot under the Picasso with an amazing view of the stunning drawing room, and proceeded to enjoy every last bite of the afternoon tea spread they had crafted. It was truly delicious from beginning to end.
Before dinner drinks: Then we took the art tour as I mentioned above before exploring the hotel a little bit on our own after seeing unique hangout spots she had pointed out. Before dinner in the Flying Stag, their onsite and connected pub, we sat down in the drawing room to read and order a few speciality drinks from their Elsa Schiaparelli – yes that Elsa Schiaperelli – themed bar.
Dinner: They have two restaurants on site – the Flying Stag and Clunie’s Dining Room. We chose to eat at the Flying Stag because we knew we were doing the more upscale dining route while we were in Edinburgh and Glasgow on the same trip and felt like we’d be craving traditional pub fare. We had a delicious meal at the Flying Stag (their fish and chips are legendary), but I know we would have also loved the Clunie options as well. The Flying Stag also had homemade ice creams and sorbets, and I highly recommend the coconut.
Whisky bar: After dinner, we headed back to Bertie’s, their speciality whisky bar on site (are you already getting the idea that this hotel has everything you could ever possibly want?) that has more than 300 whiskies on site and a team of extraordinarily knowledgable staff that present fun options for whisky lovers of all levels, pallets, and price ranges. We had such a good time in here – the vibes are so cozy and cool! They actually organize the whiskies by flavor profile instead of region as a lot of whisky establishments tend to do, and the staff diligently asked us about other drinks we liked (red wine, coffee, etc.) to customize recommendations in our price point.
Fondue Hut: During the colder months, they convert one of their beautiful rooms into a fondue hut. Make sure to book this in advance because it’s really popular when the hotel is fully booked and/or they need time to prep it in advance. We didn’t realize they were still doing it after Christmas, so we hadn’t booked in advance and were sad it wasn’t available at last-minute notice!
Breakfast: Have I ever mentioned how much I love continental breakfasts in Europe/the UK? They are truly superior to what we offer in the US. I got the traditional Ghillie’s breakfast, and my husband got the vegetarian Ghillie’s breakfast, and both were fantastic. They also had a fantastic assortment of any coffee you could want, homemade juices and wellness shots, and a very in-depth spread of fruits, jams, cheeses, meats, you name it.
Every stay includes breakfast!
What to do at the Fife Arms
If you want a raelly comprehensive look at what the Fife Arms offers as far as activities go, this “ghillie guide” gives a really in-depth overview of everything they have going on. They also have a few categories of guided and solo activities that they offer here.
Before your stay, you can work with the Fife Arms team to arrange almost anything you could possibly want to go. From guided hiking or wild swimming, e-bike rentals, foraging, horseback riding, food and whisky pairings, golfing, tennis, fishing, staking, clay shooting, to designing your own custom tartan, they really can make anything happen.
Spa Treatments: We didn’t have time for this during our stay, but their spa experiences are supposed to be incredible. We did have a look at the spa facilities, and they look amazing. Hopefully we can squeeze this in on our next trip that we’re hoping will eventually happen haha.
We mainly used our time here to eat, drink, and be merry haha so if you don’t want to pay extra for any activities like this or you don’t have time, you’ll still find lots of enjoyment grabbing drinks and reading or playing a board game in the drawing room like we did!
Make sure to check out my travel essentials here and how I pack in a carry on here.
[…] that I hope everyone gets a chance to see at some point in their lives! Make sure to check out my Fife Arms review as well if you’re looking for another great spot int he Scottish […]