Links House at Royal Dornoch, Dornoch – 5 Star

“Links House is a golfer’s dream location”
Bill Coore, Coore & Crenshaw
#1 Golf Hotel in the Highlands – The Scottish Hotel Awards 2015
#1 Luxury Hotel in the Highlands – The Scottish Hotel Awards 2015

Links House at Royal Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands is a country house hotel and restaurant in the finest tradition, offering luxury accommodation combined with the charm, grace and elegance of the world’s finest luxury small hotels.  Links House Hotel has been beautifully restored to reflect the strength and drama of its setting, overlooking the 1st tee at Royal Dornoch Golf Club.

Eight bedroom Luxury Hotel in the Scottish Highlands

With just eight Bedrooms guests can luxuriate in the generous proportions of Links House Hotel as if visiting their own country house. Each en-suite room is individually designed and finished to the highest standards, with bespoke fabrics echoing the colour palette of the Highlands, and every piece of furniture selected for its timeless beauty.

In the Drawing Room, antiques, art and deep sofas invite you to relax for afternoon tea or just gaze out across the legendary links. In our Wood-Panelled Library the smell of peat emanates from the fireplace while board games, an eclectic library and single malt collection invite you to linger.

Extraordinary Fine Dining and the Best Wine Cellar in the Highlands

Our fine dining Restaurant overlooks Our gardens where an exterior fireplace and putting green, maintained by Royal Dornoch’s master greenkeepers, lets guests make the most of the long Summer evenings. Our head chef JP Saint is dedicated to fresh menus daily, sourced from the finest of local suppliers of Scottish beef, lamb, and wild venison, locally caught shellfish, salmon and trout and exceptional vegetables and fruit. Our extensive wine cellar consists of aged varietals from across the globe

Despite our privileged locale, golf is but one of the many activities available to guests. Stalking, shooting, fishing, horse riding and walking tours can be arranged by our concierge upon request.

Accommodations :

Links House at Royal Dornoch boasts the opulence of a bygone era. With just eight uniquely styled Bedrooms, decorated and furnished with the finest antiques and fabrics, each room offers the high levels of comfort you would expect from one of the world’s best luxury small hotels.

5 Star Scottish Highlands Accommodation

The Public Rooms too – from the drawing room to the library – echo this sophisticated country house style while the grounds and gardens of Links House allow guests to drink in the long, fine summer evenings in the Northern Highlands where the sun looks like it may never set.

Links House also features modern conveniences including  free private parking, free wi-fi throughout and Sky TV.

Our eight bedrooms (each named after a Highland salmon river) have been individually designed, decorated and furnished to make the most of their generous size and unique aspect.

Beauly, Brora, Shin, Oykel and Helmsdale are situated in the refurbished Links House. Whilst Cassley, Conon and Carron are located in the new Links House mews which has been sympathetically designed to complement the original building.

Our rooms are one of a kind

Each room offers the guest something unique, from the views to fine antique furniture that might grace a museum. But they all share one thing in common – an attention to detail found only in the best luxury hotels. All creature comforts await…

Whether that is exceptionally comfortable beds that will send even the most travel weary guest into a happy slumber, or the en-suite Italian marble bathrooms with cavernous baths designed for reclining or invigorating power showers, we have thought of everything a guest could want, so that they will want for nothing.

The only conundrum is that rooms this nice will prove hard to leave.

You can choose from either our Main House Bedrooms (Beauly, Brora, Helmsdale, Oykel and Shin) or Mews Bedrooms (Cassley, Carron and Conon), our Mews Bedrooms are slightly larger and benefit from having a large bath and power shower.

Main House Bedrooms
  • Reading chair and writing desk
  • Antique furnishings
  • Luxurious bathrobes
  • Free wifi
  • Tea and coffee making facilities
  • SKY TV with sports package
  • Ensuite
  • Power shower
  • Heated bathroom floors
  • Penhaligon’s toiletries
Mews Bedrooms
  • Reading chair and writing desk
  • Antique furnishings
  • Luxurious bathrobes
  • Free wifi
  • Tea and coffee making facilities
  • SKY TV with sports package
  • Ensuite
  • Bath
  • Power shower
  • Heated bathroom floors
  • Penhaligon’s toiletries

Dining :

We are proud to be rated as the finest Dornoch Restaurant
“..as delicious a dinner as I have ever eaten in Scotland”
David Profumo, Country Life

At Links House we offer one of the most exceptional fine dining experiences in the Highlands. Our exciting chef, Jon-Paul Saint trained under Albert Roux, Derek Johnstone and Glen Watson. He has recently returned to the Highlands to take on the restaurant at Links House and is dedicated to using only the finest locally sourced ingredients to create exceptional country house cuisine.

Experience the best cuisine at one of the most exquisite Restaurants in Dornoch

Each day he creates a new menu inspired by the fresh, seasonal produce he has sourced from our local suppliers and, in the Highlands, that means the finest Scottish beef and lamb, wild venison and locally caught shellfish, salmon and trout. Using the best ingredients from Scotland’s abundant natural larder, his dishes are mouth-watering, innovative – and often have an unexpected twist.

Glen Watson said “Jon-Paul is an incredible young talent and will ensure the restaurant at Links House is continually offering incredible cuisine using the finest ingredients”.

We also have an exceptional cellar, our wines hand-picked from the top wine merchants in this country and the US, which we can match to each dish, and an enviable array of single malt whiskies. So after your meal you can round off the evening by the welcoming open-air fireplace on the terrace gazing out over the Links with a dram and a fine Cuban cigar from our humidor

Golf :

North to the Highlands – Perhaps the World’s Finest Golf Region
Royal Dornoch ranked #1 in Scotland #6 in the World

The Highlands is the most magical, beautiful and yes remote of the three major golf regions in Scotland, yet it is perhaps the best. The courses here are close to one another, historic, seaside and highly strategic. Why else does Golf Digest’s 2014 rankings place Royal Dornoch Golf Club #1 in Scotland, #6 in the World? Why do Phil Mickleson, Jack Nicklaus, Sandy Lyle, Tom Watson and many other greats venture North?

The West offers beautiful sunsets over rural pastures and the Irish Sea, whilst The East offers famous history and urban sophistication. Yet the Highlands is a region, in fact a state of mind all of its own. Here the multiplicity of courses offer unparalleled views across firths, mountains, rivers, lochs and glens abundant with wildlife and natural beauty.  Here the links land is more undulating and hilly.  And here the sunlight has a stunning clarity and duration more arctic in impression and beauty.

We are on the First Tee of Royal Dornoch with other classics just minutes away.

Links House offers close proximity (within 20 minutes) from 5 of Scotland’s finest seaside Links courses. After you have tired of the exhaustive driving tours across Scotland common to first timers, come and stay at Links House for a more relaxed, thoughtful and concentrated experience. Minutes away and little known James Braid classics Brora Golf Club and Golspie Golf Club are truly exceptional links courses on par with North Berwick,Prestwick and Western Gailes!

Minutes from Links House are classics such as:

 Royal Dornoch Golf Club, currently ranked #1 in Scotland and #6 in the world by Golf Digest.

Brora Golf Club, James Braid’s 1891 seaside Masterpiece which Five-time Open Champion Peter Thomson stated was “the best traditional links course in the world”.

Carnegie Links at Skibo Castle, the exclusive course located at Andrew Carnegie’s Skibo Castle.

Golspie Golf Club, James Braid 1889 seaside classic rumoured to have the finest greens in Scotland.

Tain Golf Club Old Tom Morris clever 1890 design hosted Scottish Ladies Amateur Championship in 2012.

Castle Stuart Golf Links, Scottish Open Venue and voted best new course in Scotland.

Highland Activities :

The Highlands, Home of the Finest Country Sports in Scotland

Perhaps you are coming to the north of Scotland for world-class golf, yet at Links House we seek to introduce our guests to the entirety of extraordinary natural wonders in the Scottish Highlands. In fact, the Highlands offers the finest county sports environment in Europe with convenient and nearby access from Links House.  World-class country sports activities including salmon and trout fishing, dramatic bird shooting and deer stalking, stunningly beautiful walking, hiking, horse riding and cycling are all just moments away.

Links House is pleased to offer bespoke country sports concierge service to our guests to extend their stay into a truly extraordinary experience.  Under the direction of  The Links House Country Sports Ambassador Calum McRoberts, our mission is to offer access to many of the Highlands finest country sports experiences including the best salmon rivers, trout lochs, shooting and stalking estates and outdoor adventures.  Our specialty is bespoke full and half-day country sports trips as the perfect compliment to a Highland golf holiday.

Perhaps you wish to join the exclusive Legends of Links House Club – those lucky few who have played 18 holes on Royal Dornoch Golf Club and caught an Atlantic Salmon on a Spey rod in a single day …. three of our guests joined the Legends in October 2013!

Our extraordinary country sports include:
  • Guided Fly Fishing for the renowned Atlantic Salmon on world-class rivers including the Alness, Beauly, Brora, Carron, Cassley, Conon, Helmsdale, Shin and Tay among others
  • Guided full or half-day brown trout and rainbow trout on select rivers and lochs
  • Guided fly-casting lessons for the beginner or experienced angler
  • Guided upland grouse, pheasant, woodcock and snipe shooting
  • Guided red, sika and roe deer stalking
  • Guided horse riding along the Dornoch Firth or in the Highland hillside
  • Guided or directed full or half-day hill walking and hiking
  • Guided or directed mountain biking

Calum McRoberts is among the Highlands’ premier country sportsmen.  He has spent his lifetime to the pursuit of country sports across the Scottish Highlands.  He is an exceptionally knowledgeable walker and hiker having summited 282 of the famous Munros and completed over 1,000 full day and multi-day hikes.  His country sports expertise in the seasonal variation of angling on our rivers and shooting/stalking in all conditions ensures our guests enjoy the finest country sports outing.  Calum will carefully arrange all aspect of our guest’s country sports outings from thoughtful river and estate selection to optimal guide and equipment.