Art everywhere in the hotel: “The Fife Arms”
What for a place: Braemar, 500 inhabitants, the coldest in Scotland (record: minus 27 degrees), the village is divided by a wild river. Only one road leads there. No train stops at the station; until 1966 the Royal Deeside Railway brought the royal family to the Highlands – including Queen Victoria. In the hotel “The Fife Arms” hangs a sketch from her hand, it shows a deer shot by John Brown, hunting companion and more. She has had drawing lessons since she was eight years old.
Talent runs in the family. Three watercolors of the Prince of Wales, now Charles III, hang in the hallway leading to the breakfast room. The staircase is illuminated by a neon chandelier made of colorful glass antlers by Los Angeles’ Richard Jackson. Tea is drunk here “under the Picasso”. Guests used to come to Braemar to see the Highland Games, now it’s for the Fife Arms.
This was once a stop for bus tourists until the influential art dealers Manuela and Iwan Wirth bought it, downsized it to 46 rooms and filled it with everything they had: money, ideas, courage. And with fantastic works of art distributed throughout the hotel, including the tastefully and comfortably furnished suites and guest rooms. In 2019 Charles appeared at the opening.
Source: Infographic WORLD
Rich people don’t want to be sold art, they want a lifestyle. This is the Swiss couple’s recipe for success, who own galleries in Hong Kong, Zurich, New York, LA and London, including their incredible hotel in the Highlands. Men in waistcoats and knit stockings light the fireplace here.
Some guests read, half lying down, on sofas, as if they were inventory. Others tuck into a sprue teak under a Brueghel or sip a cocktail at Elsa’s bar, which is adorned with photos by Man Ray and a weaving by Louise Bourgeois, known for oversized spider sculptures. Bourgeois’ parents were weavers. She wove her life differently, became an artist.
The bar, with its antique mirror ball and Art Deco stools, pays homage to Elsa Schiaparelli. The designer was friends with artists such as Dalí and Picasso. When she appeared as a surrealistic tree at a festival, Coco Chanel set her rival on fire with a candlestick. “Shocking pink” was Schiaparelli’s colour, how else could a rhubarb-based cocktail be called here?
A tartan skirt and knitted stockings are a must: an employee at the “Fife Arms”
What: Fife Arms
The best way to explore the Highlands is with Fife Arms whiskey ambassador Katy Fennema. The highlight of the Jeep Walking Tour is the illegal Auchtavan Distillery, now in ruins, near Queen Mum’s favorite picnic spot. Ferns, mountains, moss and heather, vastness and barrenness: Queen Victoria would have called the place “severe scenery”.
It’s raining, the cold is creeping up – “real weather,” says a guest wrapped in sheepskin happily and climbs into the hotel’s all-terrain vehicle, lined with blue-green tartan. Rarely driven so checkered. It won’t get any more royal, you think – and you’re wrong.
An elderly gentleman in a gray tweed suit is coming up the path, his cap pulled low over his face. He greets passers-by with a smile. Charles III It’s the king. With basket. He collects herbs, berries or mushrooms, depending on the season. A Scotland fan like everyone else? Nearly. His car, security and his driver are waiting below. Balmoral, the royal residence where Elizabeth II died, is not far.
Art in every room: In the “Fife Arms” guests sleep among many treasures
What: Fife Arms
On the way back to the Fife Arms you will pass royal cattle, the River Dee and a purveyor to the court, the Royal Lochnagar whiskey distillery. You’ve tried the Royal Lochnagar for a long time – in “Bertie’s”, once the library, now the hotel’s whiskey bar. Bottles from Scotland and all over the world are stored here. Red sofas, 15 seats, wood is burning in the fireplace.
A place to sink into, named after Queen Victoria’s eldest son, bon vivant and eccentric. 365 varieties are served, flowery, fruity and “the bad stuff”, a tasting room for serious connoisseurs. Most expensive sip: £750. A Dalmore, 40 years old. If you haven’t ordered it, you can still smell it. Don’t drop anything now!
With so many valuable treasures in the hotel, the question arises: Has anything ever gotten rid of? “There’s an unobtrusive, sophisticated security system in place,” says Lorraine Grant, director of art at Fife Arms. “Suppose we hear if a van pulls up. The area is one of the best guarded in Scotland because of the royal family alone.” Only a five-pound print was gone on the first day, she says. Not a bad record with 16,000 art objects throughout the building.
In den Highlands: „Glenfeshie Estate“
Between pines lies a queen’s hunting lodge. “A most lovely spot” was noted by Queen Victoria in her diary in 1860 when she and her drawing teacher Edwin Landseer discovered old wooden huts on the banks of the Feshie. In the valley he painted the epitome of Scotland: a stag in a clearing in the mist of grey-violet mountains, in the first light, antlers raised, majestic, lonely: “The Monarch of the Glen”.
No wonder that parts of the series “The Crown” and “The Queen” were created at “Glenfeshie Lodge” in the Cairngorms National Park. Designer Ralph Lauren has furnished the lodge in a traditional way. Two nights for eight guests cost around 10,000 euros. There are at least seven rooms, some with fireplaces and four-poster beds like in Victoria’s time, who temporarily used the property as a hideaway.
Now it belongs to a Danish billionaire: Anders Holch Povlsen, major shareholder of Zalando, owns more land in Scotland than King Charles III. – Bogs, forests, lakes, a dozen estates.
Plenty of pillows and candles: Glenfeshie Lodge was furnished by Ralph Lauren
Quelle: The NewYorkTimes/Redux/laif
Said lodge, as well as two cottages, is part of his “Glenfeshie Estate”. Kennels Cottage is simpler than the main house, but still high-class. The fact that the dog keeper (“kennel man”) of the property once lived here is no longer apparent from the stone house on the banks of the Feshie. It looks comfortably modern inside, lots of fur and wood, lots of smoky blue and beige.
Guests can book a pony picnic, fly-fishing, horseback riding, or off-road tours on-site — however, this activity costs extra. “Wildland” is what Povlsen calls his 200-year project. Reforestation is part of it, many pine trees have already been planted so that the area looks like it did in Queen Victoria’s days.
Wildness de luxe: “GlenDyeCabins & Cottages”
At first glance, Aberdeen’s Glen Dye Cabins & Cottages lack any regal comforts. Guests have to bring their own drinks in the “Glen Arms” pub, heat the stove and the sauna too. At second glance, however, what is special becomes apparent, the concept of perfection, everything is curated like in a design magazine.
There are eleven accommodations spread over the site, cabins, houses and vintage caravans. One of them is called “North Lodge & River Cabin” with space for a total of six guests. She has a good vinyl record collection, Japanese kitchen knives and Egyptian cotton sheets, plus unlimited firewood.
Camping with style: The “Glen Dye” is Scotland’s most original accommodation
Those: Viola Keeve
“Garden Camp and Showman’s Caravan” is more nostalgic with a bathhouse, outdoor kitchen, wooden chairs, tweed blankets and fire bowl – you spend the night in a refurbished caravan from 1958. “The Hay Loft”, formerly a hayloft, today a two-storey storey for a maximum of four guests, is sophisticated Picture windows and outdoor wood-fired hot tub.
Those looking for wilderness can swim in the Dye River or hike to the 589 meter high Clachnaben. On the resort itself, instead of a restaurant, there is a shop with homemade soups, salmon, venison, survival guides, mosquito repellent and marshmallows, vegetables from the garden and eggs freshly laid by Glen Dye chickens – everything you need needs.
In the morning the sky turns crimson. Pheasants run across the meadow. “Home of the Brave” is written on the teapots. Big Green Egg devices are available for grilling. Everything here is well thought out and styled. “Keep Glen Dye a Secret” – this slogan, which is emblazoned in neon yellow on a wall, is of course a pious wish, because the accommodations are often fully booked. Nevertheless, the 12,000-hectare facility is extremely spacious, and you hardly meet any other guests.
Glen Dye is owned by two Londoners with six children, Caroline and Charlie Gladstone. They left the big city behind, moved to the River Dye, remodeled the historic buildings of their family home. Sir Charles Angus Gladstone, 8th Baron of Fasque and Balfour, as Charlie is officially called, and his wife are not satisfied with slices of cucumber on mint butter, true to their motto “Comfort is a slow death”, freely translated: “Comfort leads to decay.” Exactly.
Tips and information:
Getting there: Non-stop flights to Edinburgh, for example, with Ryanair or Easyjet (from Berlin and Hamburg), with Lufthansa (from Frankfurt and Munich) or with Eurowings (from Düsseldorf and Cologne).
Accommodation: Kennels Cottage for six guests, from £2,750 (€3,100) per night, two nights at Glenfeshie Lodge for up to eleven guests from £9,500 (€10,800), bookable at glenfeshie.scot. The Fife Arms, double rooms from £390 (€440), thefifearms.com. Glen Dye Cabins & Cottages from £245 (€278), glendyecabinsandcottages.com.
Visit: Balmoral Castle, open April to July, ticket equivalent to 18 euros (balmoralcastle.com); Royal Lochnagar, tours from £20 (malts.com/en-gb/distilleries/royal-lochnagar/tours)
Additional Information: visitscotland.com
Research was supported by Visit Scotland, Glen Dye Cabins & Cottages and The Fife Arms. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at axelspringer.com/de/Werte/downloads.