This is a hotel in which you feel instantly at home. Muckrach Lodge is warmly welcoming, with wood fires, comfortable chairs, fresh flowers, an atmosphere of informality and a restaurant with a growing reputation as one of the finest in the Highlands of Scotland.
In Victorian times Muckrach (Gaellic for Haunt of the Wild Boar) was the sporting lodge for the surrounding Highland estate. Today resident owners James and Dawn MacFarlane and their staff enthusiastically keep up that same tradition of relaxed country house hospitality.
Accommodation:
The hotel has 11 bedrooms and 3 suites, all with bathrooms en suite. Bedrooms have views to the Cairngorm mountains (four of Britain's five highest mountains are in view), or over the hotel's 10 acres of parkland.
The former coach house has facilities for small conferences and executive retreats. One bedroom suite has access for the disabled.
Right;The view from a bedroom window
Downstairs there is a Bar and two Lounges. There are board games and magazines, and you could sit for hours looking through James's collection of old books.
Dining:
The heart of Muckrach Lodge is its kitchen. Lunches are mainly served in The Brasserie with a choice of fresh Grills, salads, vegetarian dishes and daily-changing imaginative specialities, available for lunch or in the evening.
The Garden Restaurant:
The Restaurant has been awarded two AA Rosettes.
Dinner in Muckrach's award-winning Garden Restaurant is a showcase for the produce of Scotland, one of Europe's finest natural larders.
Chef Nic Poelaert and his team uses organically grown produce whenever possible. Fresh fish and shellfish come from the Moray Firth and Hebridean ports, salmon and sea trout from Highland lochs and rivers. Game and lamb have a taste that reflects the heather grazings of their hill rearing. The beef is from Scottish native beef herds - bred, reared and finished in the Highlands on natural fodder.
James has a particular hobby: the wine cellar. He takes great enjoyment in choosing the best affordable wines as a complement to the food.
AN EXAMPLE MENU (from one evening in September):
Tariff:
Highland bull. A guest for the summer in the field below the hotel.
Per person per night based on two people sharing, and including breakfast:
(Traditional Scottish country house cooked breakfast - or lighter options)
from £55 to £65
Table d'Hôte Dinner (or Brasserie menu à la carte)
£29.50
Please ask about Conference rates.
Special breaks and off-season rates are available at certain times of the year; please ask for details.
To enquire or to book:
MacTavish outside The Garden Restaurant
Please contact:
James and Dawn MacFarlane,
email:
enquiries@muckrach.co.uk
Muckrach Hotel,
Dulnain Bridge,
by Grantown on Spey,
Morayshire, PH26 3LY
Scotland, UK
Tel: 01479 851257
Fax: 01479 851325
(or from outside the UK:
Tel: 44 1479 851257
Fax: 44 1479 851325)
Please tell the MacFarlanes you found Muckrach Hotel through About Scotland!
Map of the area:
Very central for exploring the Highlands, the hotel easily accessible from Scotland's main North-South road the A9, and both the East and West coasts are within a day's outing.
Field sports and fishing, (James can help arrange these if you ask), low-ground and mountain walking- through some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe - climbing, photography, bird watching, Loch Garten Ospreys, Abernethy Forest.
The Malt Whiskey Trail for savouring the unique differences between the many Speyside whiskies.
The Castle Trail.
