Located just 15 km from the Balmoral Castle and the shoulders of the Cairngorms, this former hunting lodge of Queen Victoria reopened in December 2018 after a two-year renovation by famous Swiss gallerists and hotel owners Manuela and Iwan Wirth, and it’s a new chapter that begins at The Fife Arms.

With 46 rooms and suites done in a resolutely Victorian style, The Fife Arms is a hotel with a unique charm. There are over 12,000 pieces of artworks and antiques here, and interior designer Russell Sage, working in collaboration with local historians, ensured that every square centimetre of the hotel evokes the traditions and customs of the Scottish Highlands. Each room has its own decor, and highlights a piece of the hotel’s history and art curated over 3 years: A quaint fireplace, a pub that’s been the local living room for as long as the locals can remember, an armoury, a watercolour created by Queen Victoria herself or the woody scent that drifts along the corridors and recalls the area’s plants and flowers…

It’s a place where time seems to stand still, and adding to this surreal scene is the hotel’s spa, and restaurants , which are highlights in their own right. There is The Clunie Dining Room where the art of wood-fire cooking comes to life, and The Drawing Room, with walls covered in Scottish art and antiques, while elsewhere, Elsa’s Bar brings a little Art Deco glamour to the mix, inspired by the signature style of fashion icon Elsa Schiaparelli who frequently visited