Ben Lui

Room With A View – Ben Lui

  Master Loch View room Ben Lui   Ardanaiseig’s Master Loch View room Ben Lui takes its name from the Munro that can be seen through its window. An eye-catching part of Loch Awe’s beautiful backdrop, the 3,710ft high mountain is one of the most stunning of the Southern Highlands.   Ben Lui seen clearly…

Exterior - Winter

Hogmanay 2016 at Ardanaiseig

Hogmanay is the Scottish celebration of New Year’s Eve. Common traditions are ceilidh dancing and the singing of “Auld Lang Syne”, which is a Scots poem by Robert Burns. A custom which is less well-known is first-footing, which involves being the first person to visit a friend or neighbour and ‘cross the threshold’ of their land or property.…

Ben Cruachan ridge (photo courtesy of Ardanaiseig Hotel kitchen team member Sebastien Gouwy)

Ben Cruachan: The Hollow Mountain

If you’ve stayed with us before, you’ll know that each bedroom at Ardanaiseig has its own name. Over a series of blog posts, we’ll be exploring each room in turn, uncovering how it got its name and what makes it unique. For the first in the series, we’ll start with Cruachan, a Master Loch View…

Good Hotel Guide Awards 2017 ROMANTIC

Good Hotel Guide Editor’s Choice Awards

We are proud to have been awarded the Good Hotel Guide Awards 2017’s much-coveted Editor’s Choice Award for both Romantic Hotel 2017 and Country House Hotel 2017! The Good Hotel Guide is the leading independent guide to hotels in Great Britain and Ireland and prides itself on being completely impartial. The Guide says of Ardanaiseig…

Crab apples

Rowan Berry and Crab Apple Jelly Recipe

It’s that time of year again. The greenery around Ardanaiseig is punctuated with the red and orange of rowan berries and crab apples, and we think it’s a perfect excuse to go foraging.   What’s more, crab apples are high in pectin, a naturally occurring substance that, when combined with sugar and heated, helps thicken…

The Royal Mile during the EFF

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The legendary Edinburgh Fringe Festival is now in full swing! Taking place between 5 and 29 August 2016, there is a fantastic range of comedians and artists performing this year, with over 3,000 acts in total. The EFF is the largest arts festival in the world and has been running since 1947, taking place every…

Scottish Wildcat

Highlands – Scotland’s Wild Heart

A new BBC nature documentary is starting tonight, Highlands – Scotland’s Wild Heart, depicts the beautiful wildlife and scenery of the Scottish Highlands. The programme will be shown tonight on BBC One Scotland, or on BBC Two for the rest of the UK, at 9pm. The documentary is narrated by Ewan McGregor and features stunning wildlife photography…

One of the six muses

Antique Spotlight: Muses in the Drawing Room

As you meander through the rooms and corridors of Ardanaiseig Hotel, you will come across a great many characters adorning the walls in painting form. Taking pride of place in the drawing room, we have six paintings of the Greek muses, from the Italian School paintings, each depicting one faculty.     In Greek mythology, the…

A wedding ceremony in the amphitheatre

The Amphitheatre

On purchasing Ardanaiseig in 1995 Bennie Gray felt that there was a real spirit to the hotel, and a resonance to the grounds and gardens – the sense of ancient happenings long forgotten. It is certainly easy to feel irrelevant among the wild surroundings of the hotel, and imagine what may have been. In fact,…

Cycling at Ardanaiseig

Here at Ardanaiseig, we’re very lucky to be located in amongst some really beautiful Scottish scenery. From the deep, mysterious woodland on our doorstep, to mountains and lochs that form the backdrop to rolling hills of heather. As well as taking a walk around our grounds or one of our rowing boats out on Loch…