One night at Gleneagles

About an hour from Edinburgh Airport, we spent one night at Gleneagles, a Leading Hotel of the World. Our only regret is that we only stayed one night.

I booked our one-night stay through my American Express Platinum, which gave me certain perks: early check-in, upgrade if available, late 4pm checkout, and a free round of golf for 2. These were perks that were welcomed to maximize the fun at this beautiful property.

Journey to Gleneagles from EDI

We rented what I thought was going to be a Fiat 500, only to be surprised with the world's smallest Hyundai go-kart. We considered switching to something fancier, but considering we were going to have a pretty expensive week in Scotland, we decided to stay with our humble $120/week rental car, even if it was a rollerskate. The road to Gleneagles was beautiful and fairly easy. There was no issue until we drove up to Gleneagles. Seeing the beautiful driveway and the porters elegantly dressed in kilts with Range Rovers, Mercedes, and Porsches in the valet, we decided to skip the embarrassment and take our roller skate straight to the parking lot and then check in. In that parking lot, I've never seen such a high ratio of Range Rovers to cars. We walked to check-in and then were asked no less than four times if we wanted help with our luggage. We quickly replied 'no', walked back to our jalopy and shlepped our luggage across the gravel driveway.

Resort

The grounds are the classic imagery you would think of with a regal royal estate in the 1800s, but all updated. There are beautiful old hotels, but those feel old. Gleneagles feels like it has history, but it has been tastefully updated with all the creature comforts.

The activities list is endless, and a lot of it is included in your stay. The rolling green hills in the background, but up close, you see croquet, lawn bowling, tennis courts, hiking and running trails, pitch and putt. We actually did all of them! For additional charges, you can do falconry, adventures on Land Rover, shooting skeet, or in our case, golf.

Dining

Andrew Fairlie