Cover Pablo Picasso’s Femme Assise dans un Fauteuil in The Drawing Room is backed by green tartan wallpaper
Pablo Picasso’s Femme Assise dans un Fauteuil in The Drawing Room is backed by green tartan wallpaper
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Dine next to an original painting by Picasso and expect the unexpected at The Fife Arms, a maximalist hotel in Scotland's Cairngorn National Park owned by Iwan and Manuela Wirth, of juggernaut gallery Hauser and Wirth
At The Fife Arms in the village of Braemar in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, you can eat breakfast under a Brueghel or enjoy a pot of tea under a Picasso. This may sound serious- minded, perhaps even staid, but when it comes to the Fife Arms, nothing is quite as you’d expect.
The work by Pieter Brueghel The Younger (1564-1636) is in the dining room, where the walls have been painted in multicoloured, abstract, “cubistoid” shapes by Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca. Pablo Picasso’s Femme Assise dans un Fauteuil (Woman Seated in an Armchair) from 1953 is backed by green tartan wallpaper below a ceiling swirling with lines by Chinese artist Zhang Enli, who was inspired by cross-sections of Scottish agate stones.
And that’s just the start of the thrillingly topsy-turvy world that is the Fife Arms, a Victorian coaching inn that has been imaginatively restored by Iwan and Manuela Wirth, the Swiss owners of internationally acclaimed art gallery Hauser & Wirth. Here, you can get up close and personal with a pair of Queen Victoria’s stockings that have been preserved behind glass, and stare in wonder at cabinets stuffed with curiosities including what looks like a taxidermied squirrel with horns.
Horns are everywhere—taking the classic hunting lodge aesthetic of mounted animal trophy heads to bizarre extremes, deer antlers form a dense thicket above the hotel bar. The Flying Stag brings its name not quite to life, but to physical form, with a stuffed deer fitted with the white wings of a ptarmigan, a bird that lives on the highest peaks of the nearby Cairngorms mountain range, suspended from the ceiling.
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Above The
Drawing Room’s ceiling was
commissioned by Chinese
artist, Zhang Enli
The Drawing Room’s ceiling was commissioned by Chinese artist, Zhang Enli
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In another room, deer skulls on the ceiling radiate in rings out from a central chandelier made from draped chains; while in another, an enormous light fitting made from shiny kitchen items, including milk pails, tiffin boxes and sieves, floats above a heavy wood table and chairs draped in sheepskin throws.
At every turn there is something to stare at. Within just a few minutes of being in The Fife Arms, I wanted to stay forever.
And that was before I was even led to my room by the charming young staff member dressed in signature estate tweed breeks—the Scots word for trousers or breeches that end just below the knee.
The Princess Royal Louise suite is named after Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, who built the Fife Arms in the 19th century along with her husband, Alexander Duff, the 1st Duke of Fife. The hotel is just a 15-minute drive from Balmoral Castle, which Queen Victoria had built in 1856 and which remains the summer home of the royal family.
The suite’s lounge is clad in patterned wallpaper in rich peach, and features elegant antique furniture and artworks, a sumptuous rug over the dark wood floors, and a sofa upholstered in stripes of muted gold and pink.
A four-poster bed with silky drapes dominates the bedroom, which also features floral-patterned wallpaper and a desk at the window that implores guests to sit down and write a letter with pen and paper, rather than on a digital screen.
The bathroom, in shades of muted olive green and gold, offers a free- standing copper bath, and provides specially created bath and body products that capture the essence of the surrounding Highlands with their captivating scent of myrtle, bell heather, thyme and juniper.
Above The Fife Arms takes a maximalist approach, with clashing patterns and dramatic drapery
The Fife Arms takes a maximalist approach, with clashing patterns and dramatic drapery
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The hotel’s location in the Cairngorms National Park means that the joys of nature are right on the doorstep. One morning I woke early to run along a path by the River Dee, which reflected the wooded hills in its still, clear waters. The area is ideal for hiking, wild swimming and wildlife spotting, including the endangered red squirrel, Scottish wildcat, golden eagle and osprey.
The hotel can arrange a variety of activities, including pony picnics, guided foraging sessions and wild sketching classes. Visitors can go stalking on nearby estates or try their hand at clay pigeon shooting.
After a day in the fresh air, whether as participant or spectator, energetic or sedate, head to The Fife Arms’ Bertie’s Bar for a restorative. The bar, opened in 2021, is inspired by Queen Victoria’s hedonistic heir, King Edward VII, the father of Princess Louise.
It’s called a bar, but there’s no actual bar—the opulent room is lined from floor to ceiling with whiskies, like books on shelves, while guests kick back on red velvet armchairs. There’s an astounding 448-bottle array, from long-aged, rare drams to the latest releases. They are arranged by flavour profile: fragrant, fruity, rich and smoky.
Whisky novices and aficionados alike can turn to the Bertie’s whisky sommeliers for advice. I gave a few adjectives to describe the flavour profile of the whisky I was in the mood for to Angus Upton, lead whisky specialist at The Fife Arms, and he selected a few options. He let me nose the bottles and choose my preferred dram, and I unexpectedly ended up enjoying an American rye whisky rather than a Scotch.
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Above There are hundreds of whiskies to discover at Bertie’s Whisky Bar
Above Glasses lined
up at Bertie’s Whisky Bar
There are hundreds of whiskies to discover at Bertie’s Whisky Bar
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The hotel even has its own whisky, which aims to celebrate Scottish culture by recreating the signature styles enjoyed in the era when the hotel first opened. Smoky whisky from Ardnamurchan Distillery is matured in sherry butts, the type of cask most widely used during Victorian and Edwardian times, bringing a rich fruitiness to the liquid.
A cut-glass decanter of the whisky is available in guest rooms, along with a London dry gin also created for the hotel. Sourced from local suppliers are a bottled negroni, coffee digestif, handmade fudge, shortbread, chocolate truffles and savoury biscuits specially designed to be enjoyed with a drink. Like with everything at The Fife Arms, the complimentary in-room snacks are generous, detail-focused and unique.
Leaving The Fife Arms was like saying farewell to a good friend. While many hotels can offer the same level of luxury, few can offer so much personality. In a world of cookie-cutter travel experiences, take me back to that Brueghel, seat me in a tartan-covered armchair under that Picasso, and let me revel in the curious.
