Kenmore Hotel

It is said that the giant Fingal once chased a magical water horse across Loch Tay.

Stay on the shores of the loch and you might even spot the ghost of that magical horse galloping across it.

And if you are heading to the loch, then what more historic location could you choose than Scotland’s oldest inn, the Kenmore Hotel?

Soak up the atmosphere with today’s Big Deal on a one or two night stay for two. Breakfast and a nice lazy late check-out are included, as well as the option of including dinner on the first night in the hotel’s AA Rosette restaurant.

h3.Perthshire escape

Welcoming guests since 1572, Kenmore Hotel on Loch Tay overlooks the river and is surrounded by the mountains of Highland Perthshire.

With today’s Big Deal, you can enjoy an overnight stay with breakfast and a late check-out at 1pm, available seven days a week until the end of May 2020. You will be sleeping in a standard twin or double room.

You also have the option of including a £25 dinner allowance per person on the first night.

One child under 12 can accompany you for free and will pay extra for meals. You can also bring along one dog for £8 per night, as long as a pet-friendly room is available.

Historic lochside hotel

Kenmore is a beautiful village at the east of Loch Tay. By day, you can relax and enjoy the local scenery or, if you’re an active type, head out on a bracing hike.

By night, you can dine with a river view in the hotel’s elegant AA Rosette Taymouth Restaurant, followed by a fine malt whisky in front of the open fire in the Poet’s Bar. Robert Burns even wrote a poem on the chimney there – and you can still see it to this day (now that’s what we call history).

Or you could head to the hotel’s cosy and casual Boar’s Head bar, which includes a terrace area for milder evenings.

AA Rosette dining

During your stay you have the option of adding on £25 per person towards dinner at the Taymouth Restaurant. There you can enjoy high quality, locally sourced produce infused with ingenious touches and unexpected flair.

Menus can change seasonally, but sample mains include the braised lamb shank with buttered mash, redcurrant reduction and wilted greens; the saddle of venison with braised red cabbage, fondant potatoes and bramble jus, and the pan-fried lemon and thyme gnocchi with roasted courgette, cherry tomato and basil foam.

From the grill, you can enjoy a range of steak cuts served with your choice of sauce or butter, including peppercorn, whisky, shallot, béarnaise, garlic butter and blue cheese butter.

Dinner allowance can be used on the first night only, and cannot be carried over.

Whisky, wildlife and castles

Both Kenmore village and Loch Tay have plenty of charms to keep you occupied, including Taymouth Castle, wildlife spotting and boat safaris. But if you would like to head further afield, then there are lots to enjoy in rural Perthshire as well.

Highlights include Castle Menzies, Blair Castle and the Scottish Crannog Centre, a restored Iron Age dwelling with exhibits. Or if you fancy sampling the local tipple, you could take a tour of Blair Atholl Distillery near Pitlochry.

Cluny House Gardens are a lovely woodland treasure and Scone Palace is unmissable.

Local activities include white water rafting, boating and pony trekking. If you are a golf lover then Aberfeldy Golf Club is around a 10-minute drive away.

Happy guests

A recent Trip Advisor reviewer had this to say about the Kenmore Hotel:

‘In a great location between the loch and the river, the room had views of both so was very pleased. The food was of high quality and the dining room overlooked the river with good views, room was clean and up to date we stayed in one called The Square, it was of medium size so suited us.’

Escape to Loch Tay

If you fancy a scenic escape, what better base than Scotland’s oldest inn?

And if you are looking for gift ideas, then you don’t get much more romantic than a loch-side hotel stay.