Wow February has flown by in the blink of an eye, where did that go! For me, the month ended with a trip to The Fife Arms.  To celebrate my beautiful wife’s birthday - just the dose of inspiration I needed at the start of the year. Sometimes you just have to escape the ordinary to feel rejuvenated again. Now I'm looking forward to Spring (literally counting down the days) and all the fresh beginnings that brings, including a number of new projects in the diary. 

The hotel is not in Fife but in Braemar on Royal Deeside, named after the Duke of Fife.

For many years The Fife Arms was a large, rather tiered & instantly forgettable hotel serving budget conscious travellers. 

The Fife Arms - it has to be experienced to be believed. A feast for the senses.

A blizzard of brilliance; heritage meets contemporary art, pure unadulterated maximilism in every sense of the word. Interior design, textiles, furniture selections, wallpaper prints, colour choices etc

It was bought in December 2014 by art A-listers Iwan and Manuela Wirth – owners of the renowned gallery Hauser and Wirth – and closed for five years for renovation. 

Darren, one of the Ghillie’s took us on an informal tour of the parts of the hotel and artworks he loves. Kicking off with Queen Victoria’s watercolour of a stag’s head in the entrance to the stories of the local taxidermist’s extensive collection of work.

Absolutely loved the art tour - anyone thinking of staying should make sure they can join that! 

Now put simply, this is a no-expense-spared style transformation and a must-visit for anyone coming to the area. Everywhere you look something else catches your eye... like the subtle painted stripe on the cocktail bar walls.  The most stressful thing that happened is knowing we’ve missed things…trying not to fret… we’ll just have to go back! The Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla have already had the tour.