SOMEONE said a vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking and if this hit a sore spot you may find yourself boarding a sleeper train one night and disembarking the following morning in the Scottish Highlands for some serious relaxation.
After an easy-on-your-wheelie walk from the railway station in Inverness, Rocpool Reserve does not look like a hotel from the outside. It was built as a private villa sometime in the late nineteenth century and the sense of stepping into a house is very much part of the appeal of staying here.
In lieu of a formal reception area, guests settle down on a sofa in a naughtily-painted lounge – libidinously red with a witty hint of decadence – and only on the way to your bedroom does Rocpool’s peculiar geometry begin to make itself felt.
The house is built on a hillside, hence the changes in elevation that allow for a creative use of the available space, something most obvious on a visit to the split-level bar.
Castle Crossbasket
The bar, with black-and-white colour theming, low lighting and a nod to chinoiserie, comes into its own around dusk when pre-dinner canapés and cocktails are served; strong on the classics plus its own quirkily named St Petersburg donkey (a take on a Moscow mule).
The restaurant, composed of three rooms united by colourful artwork, crimson chairs and carpeting on the comfortable side of the psychedelic, is as delightful as the food.
Rocpool’s relaxing bar
Macbeth came to Inverness to celebrate a job promotion and look what happened to him but at Rocpool, defined by its cordiality and comfort, the only surprise is how easy it is to to accept its invitation to sit back and take life easy.
Rocpool, a house and a hotel
Any ‘drive-thru’ of Scottish history throws up images of ruined castles and Highland country houses and Crossbasket Castle fits the bill with its castellated frontage and, dating back to the 16th century, the Lindsay Tower that is reached by a spiral stone staircase. With heritage like this and a name that sounds bonkers, it may be surprising to find yourself heading south from Inverness on a most comfortable coach to Scotland’s largest city to check in at this five-star hotel on the outskirts of Glasgow.
Mackintosh and Macdonald, an avant garde husband-and-wife team
The building as a whole had long been abandoned and its roof was leaking when it was rescued in 2011 and transformed into what you see today. It’s not just the roof that is new: the antiques, paintings, chandeliers, furniture and upholstery were all brought in to recreate the experience of a luxurious stay in a castle-like house.
The Georgian-style dining room excels in this regard with its gold cornicing around walls from which hang a giant mirror and a huge tapestry, with light shining down from a resplendent chandelier.
This is a Michel Roux Jr restaurant serving meals throughout the day and an afternoon tea menu. Breakfast is a splendid, non-buffet affair with pleasingly light alternatives, like a health drink and berries with yogurt, to traditional Scottish porridge or a porridge brulee with whiskey cream.
Similarly for dinner, there is a tempting vegetarian and vegan menu, with inventive desserts like dark chocolate and beetroot brownie, as well as fish and meat dishes, a five-course tasting menu (and a whisky trolley).
Castle Crossbasket’s Jane-Austen intereior
Crossbasket Castle has nine individually attired rooms and two gate-house self-catering lodges at the entrance. The high-ceiling bedrooms are designed for relaxing in: canopied beds; floor-to-ceiling curtains; and bathrooms equipped with rainfall showers and claw foot baths.
Art and afternoon tea at Makintosh At The Willow
The hotel succeeds brilliantly in creating the atmosphere of a grand country house, more Jane Austen than Victorian, and equally remarkable, given it’s only a half-hour drive into Glasgow, is the ease of discovering a qualitative different level of interior design at both the Mackintosh House in The Hunterian and Mackintosh on the Willow.
The exhibition at the wonderful Mackintosh on the Willow teahouse in Sauchiehall Street celebrates Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s art; the pièce de résistance being the Salon de Luxe room, designed by Mackintosh and his artist wife, Margaret Macdonald. Modernist, art nouveau and Japanese influences reveal themselves in design and colour details that are a wonder to behold.
The lovingly restored tearoom building, which first opened for business in 1903, was designed by Mackintosh and is open once again, serving teas and meals in an artistically inspiring context.
by Sean Sheehan