Glenapp Castle

About Glenapp Castle

Glenapp is a luxurious, award winning, five red star Relais & Chateux hotel. The Scottish baronial style castle with magical towers, turrets and crenelations, has great beauty in its period furnishings, interiors.

Inside the Victorian castle, you will find 17 lavishly furnished bedroom suites and a private Endeavour penthouse apartment spanning across 420 square metres/4,500 square feet. The elegant four-bedroom penthouse is tucked away on its own floor and is accessible through its very own private elevator and includes period kitchen, private chef, and butler. The penthouse also has its very own private treatment room, sauna, library and media room.

Overlooking the iconic Ailsa Craig and gardens, our Italian garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll, is considered by many to be the pre-eminent garden designer of the early 20th century who brought an air of freshness and science to the garden design.

The 110 acres of grounds and gardens are home to a vast array of exotic plants that have been collected since the Victorian days. Our reinstated walled garden features beautiful plants, vegetables and herbs which are all used in creating delicious dishes for guests dining in the Castle or at our new brand-new fine dining, Azalea Restaurant.

The castle and surrounding estate have a rich history. The Glenapp Estate was already well established under the ownership of the Earl of Orkney when the industrialist, James Hunter (later to become the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire), acquired it and commissioned in 1870 the celebrated Edinburgh architect, David Bryce, to design a suitably magnificent home for him. In 2015 the castle was acquired by Paul and Poppy Szkiler. Paul is the Chairman of the Truestone Group. Both Paul and Poppy focus on building businesses not simply to create profit but to address social and environmental challenges from Africa to Asia as well as here in the UK.

Many visitors to Glenapp don’t even feel the need to venture out of the castle grounds! As well as many walks to explore, Glenapp’s 110 acres of private estate and local woodland also boast herb, fruit, and flower gardens, a 150 foot Victorian glasshouse, tennis court and croquet lawn. The grounds are bounded on all sides by yet more woodland and open countryside to explore.

Guests staying at the castle can enjoy a range of country sports from shooting, high pheasant and partridge shooting, deer stalking as well as salmon fishing on the River Stinchar, or trout fishing on a nearby loch.

The most exclusive adventure that Glenapp have to offer is the Hebridean Sea Safari. Glenapp provides a private chef and professional crew for the ultimate luxurious glamping experience in the wild. Travelling between islands there is opportunity to spot bountiful sea and bird life,or go ashore to the site of an ancient monastery, archaeological site, hidden castle garden, or whisky distillery. To top it all off ‘Ripley’ the sea eagle has been trained aboard the boat to catch fish in the local waters, allowing guests to indulge in the catch for their evening meal.