The Torridon: the old school Highlands hotel where you can live out your The Traitors fantasy

It’s not uncommon for those heading north of Inverness to carry more expectations of beauty than layers, or the correct footwear. And while crowded pockets and inclement weather can lead to early disappointment for those fawning over clan lore and stags marching to bagpipes, the Torridon’s surreal setting tends to knock even the insouciant for six. It will tug at their breath and summon a degree of humility that makes time stand still and the whisky taste that wee bit better.

The Torridon team greet guests at the door as if welcoming old friends into their home. Artisanal chocolates magically appear on suite tables, and restaurant service is comfortingly old school with just the right amount of theatrics. So with the Highlands trending after The Traitors’ nail-biting final episode, it’s the perfect place to make like the contestants and have your own Highland fling (in significantly more relaxed circumstances, of course).

Where is it?

Drive North West of Inverness or Fort William, through dense forest and winding glens (particularly striking in their merlot and ochre autumnal coat), until you reach Loch Torridon — a sea loch steeped in Norse lore, and from whose banks peaty hills soar. All hotels rattle on about their views, but the Torridon easily possesses the dress circle seats for West Coast highland drama. No drone footage, Instagram shot nor postcard can prepare you for the bewitching beauty of the surrounding, rugged wilderness. It is so wonderfully at odds with the hotel’s genteel, pancake flat lawns and manicured hedges.

The (often snow-capped) mountains across the loch are reflected in the still, steely water below, magnifying the natural splendour to incalculable levels and bestowing the old Victorian hunting lodge its cast-adrift character. If you’re planning on chugging up on the sleeper, the nearest station that connects to Fort William is Achnasheen, from which wide-eyed guests disembark, unable to catch 40 winks through the locomotive theatre and poetic landscapes spinning past.

Style

What’s lovely and particularly rare in our private equity pumped era of hotels, is that The Torridon is family owned and run (Daniel and Rohaise Rose-Bristow bought it off Rohaise’s parents in 2004). As such, the hotel has evolved organically, preserving its character amid room renovations and fresh decor (overseen by Rohaise herself). There’s still the traditional cosiness you’d expect from a Victorian Highland Hunting lodge, with wood panelling, taxidermy and antiques, but several rooms have been modernised with fresh textiles, upholstered headboards, velvet sofas and all the techy comforts.

The old fashioned aesthetic peaks in the brooding, taxidermy-clad library, where private dinners and gourmet soirees are held. Observant diners may notice the zodiac-themed ceiling — just one of many odes to Queen Victoria who had a thing for astrology. You’d be forgiven for missing the other celestial themed ceiling in the drawing room, where guests slurp tea, as if in a trance as the hills surge beyond the glassy loch, fixing their gaze.

The hotel’s 1887 restaurant continues this old world feel with thick, draped curtains framing the surrounding Highland watercolour and tables wrapped in cheery upholstered banquettes and comfy chairs to offset the dark wood panelling (if not seated in the conservatory).

The Bo and Muc restaurant and pub — located a hundred metres or so from the original hunting lodge — fall closer to a Montana wood cabin than a Highland lodge in character, though the brasserie curtains and terracotta palate wouldn’t look out of place in London.

Don’t leave the Torridon without at least one evening fully committed to the whisky bar — the sort of bijoux drinking den that commands respect. From the bar to the ceiling, whiskies line up, glowing amber in the chandelier light and procured from the very top using an old fashioned library ladder.

Food & drink

Along with the astute service and romantic lochside setting duly sprinkled in shaggy Highland cows, it’s the food that really sets the Torridon apart. Yes, it’s old fashioned though not suffocatingly so. Menus are a real celebration of land and loch bounty, particularly at 1887 where you’re transported to the cold, steely depths of Loch Torridon with meaty hand-dived scallops, to the bens in tweed with richly flavoured Beinn Eighe venison tartare (so flavoursome, it barely needs seasoning); and to the hotel’s enormous Victorian kitchen garden, with delectably fluffy poached pear and orchard apple puddings. Pay the herb corner a visit in the morning and sniff the Scottish lovage and rosemary in the cool Highland air. Plates are artfully dressed and wine is cleverly paired, with candle light animating stag busts and antique trinkets. Slink off to the cosy whisky bar for afters, (whisky aficionados can browse the trove of bottles, educating themselves one dram at a time).

For a less formal affair, book a table at Bo & Muc, a short stroll from the hotel, that you’ll be thankful for after the Highland Wagyu Burger (wildly delicious) or the slow-cooked mutton pie (comfort-on-a-plate), the former is reared on the Torridon’s own farm.

The cabin structure belies the brasserie-esque interiors with terracotta hues and moody lighting — a photogenic setting for the spanking fresh shellfish small plates and artisanal cheese boards. The pub, located in the same building, is a cockle-warming hikers tavern, where locals and visitors mingle, sharing those familiar Highland tales of unpredictable weather and majestic wildlife.

Facilities

This isn’t a resort, nor is it a hotel in the chain-y sense. It’s a hunting lodge, a home that evolved into a hotel, with a superb restaurant. Who needs a gym with acres of Caledonian forest to trudge through, munros to bag and still lochs to break with a kayak paddle? This hotel is all about embarking on outdoorsy adventures, then dissecting the day’s events over a fireside whisky, or a gin and tonic overlooking lawn and loch.

Families

While little ones are welcomed with toy Highland cows, shortbread and kids menus in the Torridon’s on-site pub, this is a grown-up hotel of civilised, carpeted breakfast rooms, antiques and tasting menus rounded off with rare whiskies. That being said, the hotel rolled out the red carpet for our brood: chocolates, cots, speedy bedtime milk deliveries and assisting the Highland Cows with lunchtime. Though I didn’t sense it was a muscle they flexed regularly. The dizzying culinary standards, romantic setting and genteel, traditional rooms are geared towards couples, older families, outdoorsy types, Caledonian-inclined Americans and whisky-pilgrims. Those after a kid’s club or an extensive programme of sprog activities should consider Gleneagles or the Fife Arms.

Extracurricular

Archery after breakfast? A clay pigeon session overlooking the glens? Kayaking beneath rainbows or snorkelling in sea lochs? Veshengo Purrum, The Torridon’s experience guru, takes great pride and pleasure in showing off Scotland’s finest Highland coat with a full raft of outdoorsy activities.

The mountaineering expert particularly enjoys his mountain biking escapades through the pine forests in summer ‘guests love it,’ and has noticed a growing appetite for snorkelling in the sea loch and heading out on more serious expeditions, such as scrambling up the three great mountain ranges to the north of Glen Torridon, Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe.

Which room?

Honeymooners should pine for room 3, once the Earl of Lovelace’s bedroom, who had the Victorian marvel built as a hunting lodge in 1887, and famously married Byron’s daughter, Ada —considered by many to be the first computer programmer, working closely with Charles Babbage. The Lovelaces sold the property to the current owner’s parents and in-laws, who slowly, carefully spun it into the slick as a sea-otter operation it is now. For easy, direct access to the gardens, opt for the downstairs rooms. The simple-yet-cosy stables are 100m or so away from the main house, by the Bo & Muc restaurant, where you forgo the view for an entry level stay.

Best for…

Those with an insatiable appetite for Highland scenery, and an appreciation for old world rhythms and traditional Scottish decor. This is no sprawling castle hotel, nor is it a tartan-clad Soho House packed with mod-cons. It’s a previous hunting lodge with crackling fires, a tangible sense of history, standards as high as the munros and one of the UK’s most romantic views, framed with thick drapes and garden topiary.

Details

Rooms from £420 per night including breakfast. thetorridon.com