Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Gleneagles
Gleneagles hotels
A Scottish country estate makes golf, falconry, riding and fine dining parts of one playground.
Gleneagles makes the Scottish country estate a world of its own, with championship golf, falconry, riding, a substantial spa, and Restaurant Andrew Fairlie beneath the Ochil Hills. Opened in 1924 as a railway hotel, the Perthshire retreat later gained an urban companion in Gleneagles Townhouse, housed in a former bank on Edinburgh’s St Andrew Square.
2 Gleneagles hotels in 1 country on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Owned by Ennismore (Accor)
- Worldwide: 2 properties total (Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder; Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh); intentionally rare within a 200+ hotel Ennismore group
- On the atlas: 1 Grand Luxury, 1 High Luxury
History
The Caledonian Railway created Gleneagles to make the Perthshire estate a destination in its own right. Ennismore’s 2015 acquisition brought a substantial restoration, with new interiors and dining spaces shaped by David Collins Studio and Goddard Littlefair. The Edinburgh Townhouse later translated the estate’s approach into a former bank, giving the collection its first city address.
Timeline
- 1913 — Donald Matheson of the Caledonian Railway Company proposes a resort in the Perthshire hills, beginning the idea that becomes Gleneagles.
- 1919 (1 May) — The King's Course and Queen's Course, designed by five-time Open Champion James Braid, open to play, five years before the hotel itself.
- 1924 (7 June) — Gleneagles Hotel opens; the BBC broadcasts the Gala Ball (performed by Henry Hall and his band) across the nation; press describe it as the eighth wonder of the world.
- 1930s — Gleneagles joins the British society calendar alongside Cowes, Deauville, and the Scottish grouse season, drawing guests for sport, country pursuits, and long stays.
- 1939–1947 — Hotel requisitioned as a military hospital and subsequently a miners' rehabilitation centre; reopens in 1947 obliged to observe Ministry of Food rationing.
- 1977 — Commonwealth heads of government sign the Gleneagles Agreement, a landmark international boycott of sporting contact with apartheid South Africa.
- 1984 — Diageo (then Grand Metropolitan / Guinness) acquires Gleneagles and retains ownership for 31 years; Andrew Fairlie wins the inaugural Roux Scholarship the same year.
- 1985–1988 — The Jackie Stewart Shooting School opens (1985); The Mark Phillips Equestrian Centre follows in 1988, anchoring an estate activity programme unmatched in British luxury hospitality.
- 1986 — Gleneagles is awarded the AA's Five Red Stars, the supreme accolade of the time, an honour retained every year since.
- 1993 — Jack Nicklaus opens The Monarch's Course (renamed The PGA Centenary Course in February 2001 to mark the PGA's centenary year); Nicklaus describes the site as the finest parcel of land in the world I've been given to work with.
- 2001 — Restaurant Andrew Fairlie opens within the hotel; Fairlie, inaugural Roux Scholarship winner trained under Michel Guérard and formerly of One Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow, installs an intimate, windowless dining room of deep walls and bespoke black crockery that becomes Scotland's most celebrated table.
- 2002 — Restaurant Andrew Fairlie earns its first Michelin star within a year of opening.
- 2005 — G8 Summit held at Gleneagles; global leaders convene in the Glendevon Room; HM The Queen hosts a state dinner prepared by Andrew Fairlie; The Spa by ESPA (18 treatment rooms) is created.
- 2006 — Restaurant Andrew Fairlie earns its second Michelin star, the first and, until 2024, only two-star restaurant in Scotland.
- 2014 — Gleneagles hosts the Ryder Cup, only the second Scottish venue to do so; Europe defeats the USA 16.5–12.5 on the PGA Centenary Course.
- 2015 — Diageo sells Gleneagles to Ennismore for approximately £150m; Sharan Pasricha leads the acquisition and immediately launches what he calls the biggest investment in the hotel's history, a six-year, estate-wide renovation programme.
- 2019 — Chef Andrew Fairlie passes away after a long battle with cancer; Head Chef Stevie McLaughlin, who joined the kitchen at age 17 and spent 26 years at Fairlie's side, carries the restaurant forward; the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles draws a record 90,000+ spectators, the highest-attended women's golf event in British history.
- 2021 — Ennismore and Accor close their joint venture, creating the world's largest lifestyle hospitality company, Accor holding majority ownership.
- 2022 — Gleneagles Townhouse opens on 6 June at 39 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, the brand's first city outpost in its near-100-year history.
- 2024 — Gleneagles Hotel receives Three MICHELIN Keys, the guide's highest hotel distinction, in the inaugural UK & Ireland Keys announcement; centenary year marked with a programme including the One Hundred Year Ball, a coffee-table book with a foreword by HRH The Princess Royal, and a Gleneagles × Glenfiddich Centenary Reserve whisky.
The houses to know
- Gleneagles, Auchterarder, United Kingdom — The Perthshire estate combines championship golf and country pursuits with Restaurant Andrew Fairlie.
- Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh, United Kingdom — The Edinburgh hotel and members’ club occupy a protected Victorian bank in the UNESCO-listed New Town.
Newest openings
- No new properties opened in the last 12–24 months. The Gleneagles Townhouse (Edinburgh, 2022) remains the brand's most recent addition; see Recent Renovations below for 2024 centenary-year enhancements to the flagship.
Opening next
- No third Gleneagles-branded property has been announced. The brand currently comprises exactly two properties. Ennismore's 2026 openings announcement — released as the group surpassed 200 hotels — makes no mention of a new Gleneagles location. Gleneagles remains intentionally rare.
Every Gleneagles hotel on the atlas
United Kingdom
- Gleneagles — Auchterarder · Grand Luxury
- Gleneagles Townhouse — Edinburgh · High Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Gleneagles's full dossier, with prices and maps.