An eight-bedroom country house hotel is set to become one of Scotland’s finest luxury retreats when it opens its doors to guests in June 2013.
Links House at Royal Dornoch, a historic property in the picturesque Highland village of Dornoch, is currently being lovingly restored and renovated promising to be a unique and indulgent retreat for discerning travelers.
Links House is positioned adjacent to the first tee at legendary Royal Dornoch Golf Club. Royal Dornoch, frequently ranked in world’s top 10, is considered by many to be the finest natural links course in the world. A favourite with golf aficionados – Ernie Els, Tom Watson and Greg Norman to name but a few have been spotted on its fairways – the Club enjoys Old Tom Morris lineage and is also the birthplace of revered golf architect Donald Ross.
It was the golf course which attracted Links House’s American owner, Todd Warnock, to Dornoch and the Highlands. A regular visitor during the past decade, he knew as soon as he set eyes on the 19th century manse house adjacent to Royal Dornoch Golf Club that it would be the perfect site to fulfill a dream of creating one of Scotland’s best boutique hotels.
“After many years of visiting Dornoch to play golf, The Highlands has become a special place for me in so many ways, but now well beyond golf,” says Todd Warnock. “Links House at Royal Dornoch was borne out of a love of the special light, landscape, imagery and atmosphere you find in Dornoch. In addition to the world-class links golf, the warm welcome, the stunning scenery and the beautiful and extended daylight in the Northern Highlands, Dornoch is a unique and special place. I hope to encapsulate that spirit at Links House and create a perfect retreat from the stresses of everyday life.”
Warnock and his architecture and interior design teams have spared no expense in renovating and restoring Links House. The result is an exquisite, tasteful, intimate, eight-bedroom retreat that overlooks one of Scotland’s finest golf courses. The quality of this view will be matched only by the comfort and welcome at Links House, which will be replete with open fires, wood-paneled library, garden Orangery dining room, stunning antique and fine art collection as well as impressive wine and single malt cellar.
Links House’s grounds will boast ample gardens, an outdoor gentlemen’s cigar hearth, golf store with drying room and its very own putting green, built and maintained by the green-keepers from Royal Dornoch. The property also offers butler-service, and a full-time chef specialising in locally-sourced fine cuisine.
Given its history and exceptional condition, Royal Dornoch attracts the most discerning of golf pilgrims, and the occasional celebrity, to its ancient links. Guests at Links House may find themselves rubbing shoulders with A-list celebrities on the golf course and in the village. Many famous faces have been spotted enjoying Dornoch’s unobtrusive, quiet private charms, including Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, Stella McCartney and Gwyneth Paltrow while Madonna chose Dornoch Cathedral to christen her son, Rocco, and the nearby Carnegie Club to wed Guy Ritchie.
Indeed, Links House has recently agreed a partnership with the nearby ultra-exclusive Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, one of the word’s most exclusive private members’ clubs, that gives access for Links House guests to tee times at the club’s fantastic golf course.