Undiscovered Scotland

 

Moness Resort stands in 35 acres of beautifully kept grounds on gently rising north-facing slopes on the southern edge of Aberfeldy in Perthshire. The resort comprises the 26 room Moness House Hotel, plus 106 cottages of varying sizes and styles scattered attractively around the grounds. The heart of the complex is the reception and country club, adjacent to the hotel, in which you find Moness Resort's restaurants and many of the leisure facilities.

Those wishing to stay at Moness can opt for hotel accommodation with or without meals, or accommodation in a one, two or three bedroom cottage, again with or without meals. In effect you can go for anything from traditional hotel accommodation to self catering, and all with access to the outstanding facilities and wonderful location, which though feeling very secluded is only a short walk from Aberfeldy. You can read our dining review for Moness Resort here.

Moness House was originally built as a hunting lodge for the Flemyng family in 1758. It was purchased by John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane in 1787, and owned by his descendents until 1921. Moness House Hotel offers a choice of 26 individually decorated and styled rooms, and the nature and age of the building means that no two are the same. All come with the levels of fixtures and fittings you would expect of a four star hotel.

The cottages come in a range of styles and locations. The Garden Wynd Cottages are closest to the hotel and country club and are individually styled. The Courtyard Cottages were built in 2004 on, as the name suggests, the site previously occupied by a farm courtyard. The old walled garden is now home to the wooden Walled Garden Cottages; while the three Gate Lodge Cottages were built near the entrance to the estate in 2007. Upper parts of the estate are home to the "Original Cottages", offering one or two bedrooms. We stayed in one of the one bedroom original cottages and found it to be well-equipped and beautifully clean. Reading the notes you are given on arrival really helps when it comes to thing like making the TV work and locating a hairdryer, and we thoroughly enjoyed the parkland setting and the upland views. Add in a quiet environment, a large bed (two singles, combined) and an even larger duvet, and it would be difficult to ask for more in terms of comfort or restfulness.

You begin your stay at Moness Resort by checking in at reception, in the country club adjacent to the hotel. Much of the ground floor of the country club is taken up by the Flemmyng Restaurant, which offers fine dining in the evenings and breakfast in the mornings. There is also a conference room. The upper floor in the country club is home to the Terrace Grill, which offers informal dining from late morning to late evening, plus a bar. You can read our dining review for Moness Resort here.

Also in the country club are many of the resort's leisure facilities, including a swimming pool, spa therapy rooms, a cardio room, and a sports hall offering badminton, squash or mini-tennis. Bike hire is also available on site, as is mini-golf. Moness Resort also offers civil or religious weddings, for up to 120 guests in the marquee near the hotel, while meeting and other events can be accommodated, for between 2 and 100 people. Disabled access at Moness is good. Many parts of the country club are fully accessible, while specially adapted rooms are available in the hotel, and adapted cottages are also available.

You can tell a lot about the experience of staying somewhere by looking at the faces of fellow guests. Are they having a good time? Do they look relaxed and happy? We found our stay at Moness Resort to be relaxing and enjoyable, and from what we could see, everyone else was thoroughly enjoying theirs, too. This wasn't really a surprise. Staff are friendly and helpful, the accommodation options mean that just about anyone can find something that suits their needs, the environment of the estate is superbly cared for, and the quality of the housekeeping is outstanding. Add in a location which means that Highland Perthshire and the surrounding areas are easily accessible and you end up with a pretty enticing package.