An honest review of a 5-star UK hotel that’s one of ‘Europe’s best’ | UK | Travel

The words “hotel 10 minutes from the airport” don’t exactly spark excitement. Usually, it’s a barrier to entry to what you’ve actually travelled to see.

For many visitors, they want ‘Highlands-Loch-Ness-whisky’ Scotland — not greater Glasgow. But, as I recently found out, minutes from baggage claim is a lovely nook of Scotland that’s the base of an astoundingly gorgeous luxury resort.

On the doorstep of Scotland’s biggest city is the recently overhauled Mar Hall Hotel and Resort. To be clear, this is not an ‘airport hotel’ so much as it is a hotel near an airport. The five-star resort has just undergone a £20million facelift under new ownership.

Though it’s not more than 30 minutes from my flat, it feels like ‘holiday’ Scotland, the beautiful countryside version I rarely visit. When I arrive at 3pm, which is sunset in these parts in deepest winter, and the sun has cast a golden glow over the Clyde and the gently sloping hills and trees beyond them. So transportive, and all I did was hop in a car. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Glasgow anymore.

The new Mar Hall

At the ripe old age of 180, Mar Hall has led a few different lives. It was originally commissioned by the 11th Lord Blantyre as the newest Erskine house estate, later to be converted into a hospital for amputated soldiers returning from World War 1.

Fast forward to 2025 and Mar Hall is in new hands yet again. For Glaswegians like me, a night away in an opulent old house is a refreshing break from the real world. For visitors farther afield, it’s a very luxurious welcome to Scotland.

Although the hotel’s new owners are based in Dubai — and it photographs beautifully for the social media age — Mar Hall’s redesign feels distinctly Scottish. On a tour of the recently refurbished hotel, Jim Hamilton, the owner of Graven, the interior design firm that led the project, shared how he’d grown up nearby and still only lives a few minutes away. Quintessentially Glaswegian design firm Timorous Beasties supplied wallpapers and fabric, whilst Artpistol, the Glasgow art gallery, supplied much of the artwork throughout, some of which was sourced from recent graduates of the Glasgow School of Art.

Noting how Mar Hall has gone from “home to hospital to hospitality”, Jim says they sought to continue that thread of homeyness and caretaking to its latest reiteration. There are thoughtful nods to its heritage I wouldn’t have known were callbacks to the Victorians.

For one, the grand entry hall is lined on both sides with potted palm trees — a throwback to the time when exotic plants from abroad belied worldliness and sophistication. The Victorian references are also etched into the walls. A set of four massive paintings depicting the seasons of Scotland, commissioned from Scottish artist Nichol Wheatley, is set in custom wall panelling, as was the fashion of the time.

It’s an aesthetic embracing bold colours and patterns: Victorian, but make it 2025. Your eye is constantly drawn up through its soaring spaces to the magnificent vaulted ceilings above. The effect is sumptuous and stylish, but welcoming. Although it’s a five-star resort, the staff are wonderfully friendly, and I don’t feel uncool to be here.

The rooms

When I visit, it’s almost December and the hotel has just been thoroughly decorated for the season. The receptionist, who gives a quintessentially warm Scottish welcome, pauses before the doors to the Gallery, genuinely excited to reveal the grand room at the heart of the hotel. For a beat, I dread having to fake excitement to this nice lady, but when she swings open the doors, I am genuinely impressed. It looks better in person than online.

To access one of the hotel’s 74 rooms, guests stride past the Gallery’s cushy seating, fireplaces and marble bar. I am given the keys for the night to the £1,125-per-night Erskine grand suite with its palatial sitting room and grand piano, the latter of which is sadly wasted on me. The sitting room and bathroom, including a rolltop bath, overlook the golf course, River Clyde and idyllic woodlands beyond in that order. The custom bookcases are so perfectly lit – as is everything in the hotel – that when I meet Jim, I can’t help but ask if he would design my flat pro bono.

The festive decor extends to the rooms. I’m delighted to find a Christmas tree in the lounge, twinkling before a handwritten note and dish of treats welcoming me to Mar Hall. It’s enough to make a girl feel warm and fuzzy.

The bedroom with its sumptuous four-poster bed and perfect hotel bedding lulls me to sleep not long after I hit play on a cheesy Netflix Christmas film. It’s a shame I’m not able to spend more time soaking up a hotel room of this calibre. Mar Hall only reopened in May this year, but I hear Kylie Minogue has stayed in these suites twice already.

The food

Before dinner, I have a tipple in the Slàinte bar, which is wonderfully cosy with a roaring fireplace and a Christmas tree. For dinner, smoked salmon, beef, and sticky toffee pudding are the stalwarts of ‘fancy dining’ in Scotland and for good reason. I’m glad to see all three on the menu. It was a treat to layer local smoked salmon on a bed of horseradish and a crispy cracker. The blade of beef was as tender as it ought to be, with dauphinoise and honey-roasted carrots forming a perfect forkful.

The only thing I’d say is the pudding could have used more toffee sauce, as is often the case. The service was a good balance of attentiveness and unobtrusiveness. The unexpected star, though, was the warm fig bread rolls — I’ve found myself thinking of them wistfully.

Breakfast in the Dining Room is a continental spread with a menu of hot options including full Scottish breakfast, sausage egg roll, eggs Benedict, and porridge. I opt for the ‘rise & shine crumpet’, a good combination of Argyll smoked salmon with scrambled egg.

The location and facilities

Mar Hall is a 240-acre estate that is a 25 minutes’ drive from Glasgow city centre or 10 minutes from Glasgow Airport. It is not easily accessed by public transport.

The 18-hole Earl of Mar golf course is just outside. Like the hotel, it has picturesque views of the River Clyde and the Kilpatrick Hills. Its spa has a swimming pool, saunas and steam rooms. Other facilities include a gym, games room and private screening room.

Final thoughts

Mar Hall’s new owners have poured millions into the hotel in the hopes of making it a world-class destination. Resort director Andy Roger says plans for a clubhouse with a second restaurant and new cutting-edge indoor-outdoor spa are in the works.

It’s got stiff competition an hour up the M8. This year, Mar Hall cracked the top 20 resorts in Europe as voted by readers of American luxury travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler. The top spot on the list? Gleneagles. The iconic resort is a do-everything Scottish summer camp for the wealthy. Alongside seven eateries, three golf courses and a spa, there’s horse riding, shooting, fishing, off-roading and more to do on the hills of the Perthshire resort.

It may not be a full-service millionaire’s playground, but I’m already looking forward to returning. Mar Hall is on the top of my list for a treat-yourself staycation with my husband or for afternoon tea with visitors from out of town. When the spa is redone, I know it’ll be enormously popular with locals. The more time I spent at Mar Hall, the less I wanted to leave, and that’s the mark of a good hotel.

To book your stay

Rooms and packages can be reserved through Mar Hall’s website. Rooms cost from £292.