If you are setting your sights high when it comes to holiday accommodation, then look no further than Hawthorn House in Tomintoul (all facilities, art gallery, malt whisky shop), which, after all, is the highest village in the Scottish Highlands and in the centre of the Cairngorm National Park! 27 miles from Aviemore and the Cairngorms, it's a great centre for experiencing real Highland hospitality.
The village may be high, but the standard of accommodation offered by Hawthorn House is, if anything, still higher. When you drive up, it may look simply like a solid, traditional, Scots cottage from the front, but once inside it will be revealed just what an excellent choice you have made.
Most beautifully and stylishly refurbished, spacious and with every comfort, this is a truly superb house. The large, welcoming sitting room has a wood burner to supplement the oil-CH. There is a separate dining room and state-of-the-art breakfasting kitchen and additional utility room. On this level too is a double bedroom with en suite shower room. Upstairs, are three more luxurious bedrooms, one of which is again en suite, and a further family bathroom. The downstairs rooms have beautiful wood flooring and the all bathrooms are quite sumptuous. We hope that the pictures will do justice to the excellence of this remarkable house.
While Hawthorn House fronts on to the street (no great volume of traffic), at the back all is peace, with a large, enclosed grass garden with plenty parking and a secluded patio area (furniture). The convenience of having the village shops and eating places within a few minutes' walk is another definite plus.
It goes without saying that this is splendid walking (you are right on the Speyside Way) and climbing country, and, in winter, the Lecht ski area is just 8 miles or so down the road towards Cock Bridge. You are also well placed for a pilgrimage along the Whisky Trail, with the Glenlivet distillery perhaps the nearest. (If you walk to it along the Speyside Way, you won't have to worry about breathalysers on the way back!) The Spey is, of course, also one of the great Scottish salmon rivers.
Further afield, Grantown on Spey is 16 miles away, with more shopping opportunities, golf course etc. Carrbridge and Boat of Garten, site of the famous osprey nesting site, are other places of interest, perhaps on your way to the attractions of Aviemore and the Cairngorms. Or you could head northwest for a day in Inverness.
Bed linen, towels, electricity and the first £25 of oil-CH are INCLUDED. Up to two well-behaved pets are welcome by arrangement but should remain downstairs. Smoking is not permitted in the house. Wi-Fi is available, subject to provider.
