Luxury hotel named cheapest five star stay in Scotland
A LUXURY Scottish hotel has been named the cheapest 5* stay in Scotland by consumer champs Which?
The Which? team sifted through listings for 5* hotels on Hotels.com to find the most affordable luxury accommodation across the world.
The researchers excluded any hotels with a lower customer rating than eight out of 10, or properties in especially hard to reach locations.
And they discovered the Aberdeen’s The Marcliffe Hotel & Spa was the cheapest luxury stay in Scotland.
The hotel was one of only five in the whole of the UK to make the grade and it comes hard on the heels of Which? also granting it rare full five mark rating - one reserved for a property they think is truly exceptional.
Consumer experts Which? send hundreds of undercover inspectors out to rate hotels and guest houses across the UK each year and the Marcliffe was the first in Scotland to granted the honour in seven years.
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The Marcliffe, at Pitfodels, on the outskirts of Aberdeen, was hailed by the Which? team as ‘best in its class’ with the team saying the staff were amazing and the hotel was brilliant value for money.
The Which? inspector said: "Every minute at the Marcliffe feels special. There is no bling, no gold wallpaper or cocktail-snapping influencers, not even a hot tub in the small spa.
"The tartan carpets, high tea in the drawing room and impeccable service feel almost old-fashioned. But it’s this elegance that appeals and keeps minor royals – who can’t fit into nearby Balmoral – coming back.”
And it’s the same price point that won it the accolade of cheapest luxury stay in Scotland that helped the Marcliffe gain its five-star rating.
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The Which team said: “It’s the value that makes this the best UK hotel we’ve stayed at in the past seven years. To be so completely swept off your feet for £205 (including breakfast) makes The Marcliffe remarkable.”
Emerald Bay Hotel & Spa in Nha Trang, Vietnam, was found to be one of the most affordable luxury hotels in the world, according to the Which? survey.
As well as a roof-top terrace with sea views, the South East Asia hotel has private beach access, sky-high swimming pools and an action-packed kids club. An overnight stay will set holidaymakers back just £22.
Emerald Bay Hotel was proved to be the cheapest five-star hotel in the study that sifted through thousands of hotels in 76 countries.
The second most-affordable hotel was Angkor Miracle Resort and Spa in Cambodia which costs £49 a night and features traditional Cambodian decor, with dark wood floors and carved furniture and an infinity pool.
The budget hotels weren’t all far-flung, though.
Grand Hotel Continental Bucharest in Romania was shown to be one of the most impressive European hotels on Which?’s list, costing £87 a night.
Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel says: “If you can afford the flight, South East Asia has the cheapest five-star hotels, but even if you don’t want to travel so far, there are plenty of affordable options closer to home.”
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Other low-cost European hotels included Delta Hotels by Marriott Istanbul West in Turkiye (£54 a night), AC Hotel Palacio in Spain (£78) and Albergo Diffuso Borgo Montemaggiore in Italy (£79).
The others to make the grade in the UK were the Roseate in Reading (£135), Grand Central Hotel Belfast, Northern Ireland (£189), Lyrath Estate Hotel Spa & Convention Centre in Kilkenny, Ireland (£250), Grand Jersey Hotel & Spa (£255), voco St David’s in Cardiff (£301).