Perthshire Hotels

Built in 1920, Gleneagles feels like the world's most sprawling manor house. The surrounding countryside, meanwhile, is 850 acres of pure rural bliss. There are pristine rivers teeming with trout, bridle paths, and long, meandering trails through untouched meadows for walking and biking (plus four golf courses that regularly host championship tournaments). But maybe the best thing to do (indoors or out) is to claim a cozy corner of the hotel’s Century Bar, a grand dining room with velvet banquettes and club chairs. It’s here you’ll find guests leafing through newspapers with a Scotch whisky in hand. Have at least one meal at Andrew Fairlie—the only restaurant in Scotland with two Michelin stars—known for its smoked lobster, an aromatic dish that incorporates a five-hour infusion over whisky barrel chips. Your other option is the Strathearn, a cavernous, chandelier-studded venue for old-school dinners (beef Wellington sliced tableside, flambéed crepes). Grab a nightcap afterward (or a predinner cocktail) at the elegant, David Collins–designed American Bar. It has glamour in spades: Walls are clad in lavender cashmere, and the menu is given mostly to champagne and caviar. Need we say more. …