For lovers of the outdoors, the Scottish Highlands make for a craggy paradise - it's a dramatic landscape thick with thistles, scored by glens and dotted with lochs which glisten with freshwater fish. While love knows no bounds, bedding down in a luxury oasis after a day spent braving the wilderness certainly beats pitching a tent. We've trawled the hills to find the region's most spectacular hotels, including Hobbit-worthy huts with dog-sledging circuits and dizzyingly grand mountain lodges staggered with contemporary art.

Don't fancy camping? Book a stay in these Highland hotels.

hotel

Shieldaig Lodge

For romance (of the passionate, unbridled, gothic variety) look no further than this renovated coaching inn on the grassy verge of Loch Gairloch. Set among brooding forest in the moody grey stonework characteristic of the Highlands, it’s decorated austerely but thoughtfully with antiques. You’ll find us by the fireside, sinking into a Chesterfield sofa with a glass of locally distilled whisky in hand.

Address

Badachro Gairloch Ross-shire IV21 2AN

+44 1445 741333 Go to website

Book Now

hotel

Eagle Brae

If The Lord of The Rings film adaptations had been filmed in the Highlands, Frodo’s pad might have looked a little like this. Tufts of grass sprout from the roofs of these intimate luxury lodges which are scattered among 8,000 acres of hilly folds and filled with quirky, handmade furnishings. It would be silly to leave without harnessing yourself to a pack of huskies and sledging its three-mile, championship course. No snow? No problem. These dogs prefer zipping through the long grass, anyway.

Address

Struy Beauly Inverness-shire IV4 7LE

N/A

Go to website

hotel

Alladale Wilderness Reserve

This former hunting lodge has done a full 180-degree heel-turn and today is known as one of the most eco-friendly hotels in Scotland. It has executed a successful rewilding scheme, replanting depleted forests and reintroducing native animal and plant species to the region. With the help of a local guide, guests bedding down for the night at this luxury hotel can see the hard work first hand as part of a hike or mountain-bike tour of the surrounding glens.

Address

Ardgay Sutherland IV24 3BS

+44 1863 755338 Go to website

Book Now

hotel

Ness Walk

Disclaimer: the Ness Walk is on the banks of the River Ness, not Loch Ness, so you won’t spot the infamous monster from its panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. Nonetheless, there are few better places to watch the sunrise than from a perch in this homely, Grade-B-listed hotel. As with all Highlands hideaways, the Ness Walk is all about grappling with the great outdoors: staff will help you fish in the fresh rivers, go on a pony trek through the surrounding thicket or brave “white-water sledging” (nope, us neither).

Address

12 Ness Walk Inverness IV3 5SQ

+44 1463 215215 Go to website

Book Now

hotel

The Fife Arms, Scottish Highlands

This zany art hotel sits in Braemar, a mere speck of a village in the swollen wilderness of the Cairngorms National Park. Don't be fooled by its chunky stone framework; the interiors of this hotel are themselves a torrent of drama, with neon contemporary art fixtures and sweeping satin drapery at every turn. It's the passion project of gallerists Hauser & Wirth. And yes, it is as eccentric as it sounds.

Address

Mar Road Ballater AB35 5YN

+44 339 720 2001 Go to website

hotel

Corrour Lodge

Have a penchant for contemporary architecture? This one’s for you. Okay, it’s not a hotel in the strictest sense (it’s really a rental property with space to sleep 28), but this magnificent shard of a country lodge is too stylish to not feature in this round-up. Allow the on-site chef to whip up some local produce – Aberdeen Angus beef, perhaps? – as you simmer in the rooftop hot tub. Rooms are not available on an individual basis, though you can hire the Lodge exclusively for as little as two nights. Best get rallying some travelling buddies, then.

Address

Corrour Estate, by Fort William Inverness-shire PH30 4AA

+44 1835 824 642 Go to website

hotel

Killiehuntly Farmhouse & Cottage

Killiehuntly has all the heavy infrastructure of a classic Scottish farmhouse and the pared-back trimmings of a Copenhagen studio apartment. You can thank Danish socialite and co-owner Anne Storm Pedersen for that. Since she and husband Anders purchased and renovated this crumbling 17th-century estate in 2011, it’s earned a reputation as one of the most refined addresses in the Highlands. Try its outdoor sauna – perhaps the finest example of the hotel’s “Scandi-Scot” ethos.

Address

Kingussie Highland PH21 1NZ

+44 1540 661 619 Go to website

Discover More

Eco Escapes: Running Wild in the Scottish Highlands

Read now