Hotel review: Scotland’s Banchory Lodge lies on the banks of the River Dee to the east of Balmoral

Given that A-roadways in Scotland can be so narrow they have passing destinations, you can think about just how rustic B-roads there can get.

I turned on to just one in the Cairngorms Countrywide Park on a Friday evening recently and didn’t see yet another auto for 50 percent an hour – and passed by means of woodlands so historical and pristine I wondered if we’d been warped into Middle-earth.

Our place was Banchory Lodge, a hotel that lies just over and above the park’s eastern border in a locale that entices on several levels.

First of all, the Georgian lodge sits, enchantingly, on the banking companies of the River Dee, going through absent from the town of Banchory and out in the direction of rolling forested hills.

Then there’s the proximity of a host of sensational sights.

For starters, Balmoral – the Scottish house to the Royal Spouse and children – is just 45 minutes by vehicle to the west within Cairngorms National Park. My companion, a few-yr-aged daughter and I expended a superb afternoon there, gallivanting all over the encompassing woodland – the place we noticed a pink squirrel – ambling by the high-quality vegetable backyard garden, which was just about cartoonishly bountiful, and peeking inside of the understated Castle Ballroom, the only space you’re permitted inside of.

Other close by attractions of outdated consist of Crathes Castle and the fairytale-esque Craigievar Castle.

Aberdeen, in the meantime, lies just 19 miles to the east. There you can location dolphins from the harbour and admire the works on display at the renowned Aberdeen Art Gallery.

We fuelled up for our excursions with breakfasts at a table overlooking the river. The look at was exceptional and the fare was hearty, although the rustic aspect was lowered by the company-station-model packets of honey that accompanied the porridge.

Lunchtime fuelling came courtesy of the hotel’s out of doors dining thought – The Sitooterie – which has seating more than a patio region and four funky wooden sheds for non-public eating ordeals.

These are truly superior entertaining and the barbecue-style grills, salads, tacos and flatbreads served by the outdoors kitchen area significantly filling.

We ordered chilled crayfish and lobster taco, ‘togarashi’ chicken, and lemon pepper mackerel with apple, cucumber and watermelon and could hardly move later on.

Flavour-clever it was a little bit two-dimensional, but there was no arguing with the value. Most of the dishes were below a tenner.

The major-developing cafe cooking in the night amazed, however. I experienced gold-typical fish and chips and my lover loved her Shetland scallops. In addition, the services was impressively zippy and chirpy irrespective of the cafe staying whole to bursting.

Our space was a ‘Top Notch Terrace Room’ and there was significantly that was indeed top-notch. But some factors were being far more ‘middle to decreased-middle notch’.

The very first-rate bits? The very comfy bed, in particular the lavish pillows, the funky flamingo wallpaper, the Art Deco drinks trolley, the distressed industrial-stylish Tv cupboard and the sheer spaciousness of it all.

And there had been plug details by the mattress. Thoughtful.

But the entrance conclude of the place was a bit gloomy and the feng shui of the lavatory felt misaligned – although lying down the loo was in my discipline of eyesight if the toilet door was open up and in line of sight to the French doors.

The shower, in the meantime, experienced a sluggish-draining plug and while using the rain shower fixture was pleasurable, the hose could not muster significantly far more than dribbling water.

The key space had a definite boutique feel to it, but the toilet, though clean up, felt bland and funds by comparison.

The website home billing also left me a tad miffed. ‘Great sights of the River Dee’ are promised and French doorways ‘you fling open on to your terrace straight out to the River Dee’.

Probably this was penned by an estate agent, due to the fact the ‘your terrace’ element of the equation was basically an open up patio shared with a few other rooms (even though every single space has its personal table and chairs) and the check out a hedge amongst this and the Sitooterie, its parasols and the vehicles in the car or truck park further than. (Through our visit, it was full – Banchory Lodge is quite common.)

We could see the river, but only just.

For unimpeded sights of the bubbling torrents, e-book a to start with-ground river-look at room.

Still, we liked our keep at a lodge that is reasonably priced and in, certainly, just one of the country’s most Dee-lightful spots.