B&B’s For Scottish Golf Vacation

Posted by John

June 4, 2009

As I’ve mentioned in other blogs, you can go to Scotland and do a big hotel with spa services and all the rest that goes with it at places like Gleneagles and Turnberry. However, if you’re adventurous and want to play more of the fabulous links courses available, then B&B’s are the way to go. They are beautiful, accommodating, have terrific hosts and the breakfasts will give you enough energy for 36 holes!

You never have to worry about quality because the Scottish Tourist Board rates the best ones with 4 and 5 stars. Cleanliness is impeccable, as it is everywhere in Scotland, including public bathrooms.

The B&B’s exude tons of European charm. Most are in beautiful homes built hundreds of years ago with high ceilings, spacious guest rooms with private baths and comfortable common rooms for lounging with other guests and eating breakfast.

We started our trip in Nairn, a city that, by vegetation, feels like it should be in Northern California. The temperature range year round is about 32 - 72 F, which explains why golf is a year-round sport. The town sits on the water and is fronted by golf courses, common park area and beautiful beaches. Unfortunately the water will turn your pizzazzas blue in about 4 seconds.

greenlawns1 B&Bs For Scottish Golf Vacation
In Nairn, we were fortunate enough to stay at Greenlawns where our host, Sheelagh, couldn’t have been nicer. She went out of her way to make sure our stay was perfect. Her advice and directions were spot on and she never tired of our endless questions about Scotland. There are enough great courses around Nairn that one could book a week or two at Greenlawns for an exceptional golf vacation.

Sheelagh cooked breakfast to order each day, just about anything we could dream up and it was all delicious. Besides hot dishes, the breakfast room was loaded with all manor of fresh fruit, juices, cereal and yogurt. Fresh coffee or tea was made fresh for our table. Our room was very large, with a great bathroom and very comfortable bed. The town is so quiet we slept every night with the windows open.

In Aberdeen we stayed at the Allan Guest House, where Louise, our host, was no less helpful and the accommodations were also great. Allan Guest House is in the city and has the added benefit of being only a couple of blocks from Duthie Park, which hosts the largest indoor gardens in Europe.

We arrived at the Allan Guest House around 4:30 and still had time to take in a tour of the gardens which were quite impressive. Again our room was great and Louise even had a separate room where we could store our golf clubs.

Lastly we stayed at the Lonmay Old Manse near Fraserburgh. This B&B is out of town about 5 or 6 miles and is located in a beautiful and peaceful rural setting. If you want peace and quiet after a day at the links, this is the place to go.

The Manse itself is splendid and the proprietors Pam and John have gone out of their way to create a 1st class B&B. It shows that they’ve run numerous hotels in the past.

Much of our second evening there, we spent in the classically beautiful front sitting room listening to 30′s music making believe it was England in 1941. We had the good fortune to meet up with a Scottish couple staying the night and enjoyed a couple of hours of great conversation.

Lonmay Old Manse has a large and diverse library and lots of horse memorabilia. Pam’s grandfather trained numerous Grand National champions and is more than willing to share entertaining stories from her youth. If you need a break from the hustle and bustle that most of us call living day to day, then this is the place to stay.

The only sounds you’ll hear are birds, gentle breezes and your own breathing. If you make arrangements in advance, Pam and John will even prepare dinner for you!

All in all, you won’t go wrong with the 4 and 5 star Scottish B&Bs. They seem to be everywhere. There are numerous websites, such as ScotlandsBestBandBs, that make it easy to find a great lodging anywhere in Scotland.

Finally I want to give a tip of the hat and a big Thank You to Dave Saunders and Simon Tait at London Golf Tours. These guys were absolutely terrific to work with. They incorporated every request I had into our itinerary and provided their own recommendations that improved our vacation significantly. They negotiated lodging, tee times and a rental car, all of which were perfect.

Dave, who did most of our trip, even went so far as to call around after us making sure we arrived when and where we were supposed to. The total cost of the service was very competitive, so good in fact that I don’t believe I could have done better on my own. These guys don’t just book Scotland trips, they can plan your dream vacation anywhere in the British Isles.