Cromlix House

Cromlix is a hotel near Kinbuck, Stirlingshire, Scotland. It was originally constructed as a Victorian mansion, then first operated as a hotel from the early 1980s to 2012.

It was bought by tennis player Andy Murray and the hotel re-opened in April 2014, being managed by ICMI management group until December 2022. The hotel was brought into self-management from January 2023 by the Murrays and was refurbished.

History

There are records of Cromlix from the 1500s, when the Bishop of Dunblane sold the lands of Cromlix to his brother, Robert Chisholm. A house was built on the site in 1874 as a family residence in the time of Captain Arthur Drummond Hay, but was destroyed by fire in 1878. It was replaced in 1880 by Cromlix House.[1] Cromlix House was built for Arthur Hay-Drummond, son of the 11th Earl of Kinnoull. King Edward VII visited in September 1908.[2] The house remained a family home for the Hay-Drummonds until the 1971 death of Evelyn Hay-Drummond,[3] who had married Terence Eden (8th Lord Auckland).[4]

Cromlix House was converted in May 1981 from the Eden family home, and retained much of the original furniture and family portraits. It also contains Cromlix Chapel, a consecrated Episcopalian Church in the diocese of Dunblane dating from 1874[5] which was opened by reverend Charles Wordsworth of Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane. The church's reredos were carved by Alexander MacDonald, a sculptor who lived in Rome.[1]

The house sits on a 2,000 acres (810 ha) estate and occupies approximately 34 acres (14 ha) of parkland, forestry and four fishing lochs,[6] as well as two mineral springs.

Between the 1980s and its closure on 16 February 2012, it was run as a four-star country house hotel, with 14 bedrooms including eight suites.[7][8]

In 2006 Cromlix House – including the game larder, ancillary building, gatepiers and garden boundary walls – was designated as a Category C listed building.[9] An obelisk sundial in the garden is Category A listed.[10]

In October 2010, it served as the wedding venue for tennis player Jamie Murray and Alejandra Murray (née Gutierrez).[8][11][12]

The hotel closed in 2011 and again in early 2013. In February 2013, it was confirmed that Andy Murray had bought the property for £1.8 million.[13] It opened as a 15-room five-star hotel in April 2014.[14] In April 2015, Cromlix was the venue for the wedding reception of tennis player Andy Murray and his wife Kim,[15] and the following year Murray's father and partner Sam Watson were married at the hotel.[16]

In January 2023, the Murray's moved to self-management of the hotel and closed the hotel for a total refurbishment. All of the hotel's bedrooms and bathrooms were renovated as well as the restaurant, the bar and all common areas of the hotel.[17]

A further bedroom (Dahlia) was added in 2025. [18]

In January 2026, the hotel closed again for further alterations. [19]They include the construction of a new, glass fronted restaurant on the main lawn, a new, intimate, fine-dining restaurant inside the main building, three new bedrooms including an accessible, ground-floor suite, a one-person treatement space in the woodland and an extensive, state of the art kitchen serving all of the restaurants at the hotel. The Glasshouse will become a dedicated afternoon tea and events space, and a new private event room (The Library) will open on the first floor.

Awards

Cromlix has won the following awards:

  • AA Hotel of the Year, Scotland 2024-25 [20]
  • AA Notable Wine List 2024
  • MICHELIN key, MICHELIN Guide 2024 [21]
  • Rural Hotel of the Year, Food & Travel Reader Awards 2024
  • Scottish Excellence Awards - Chef of the Year and Independent Hotel of the Year 2024 [22]
  • Best Hotel Experience, Scottish Thistle Awards 2023[23]
  • AA 5 Red Stars, AA Inspectors' Choice in Britain & Ireland 2023
  • AA 3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence, AA Inspectors' Choice in Britain & Ireland 2023
  • Winner of the "Best for Walkies", Pets Pyjamas Travel Awards 2023[24]
  • Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Choice - Top 30 Hotels in the United Kingdom 2021[25]

References

  1. ^ a b Eden, Ronald. The Story of Cromlix. Private.
  2. ^ "Sotheby's catalogue:A set of twelve mahogany chairs early 20th century". Sotheby's. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Cromlix, Dunblane FK15 Commercial Property for Sale - Primelocation". www.primelocation.com.
  4. ^ "History of Cromlix". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Cromlix Hotel Wedding Brochure" (PDF). Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Scottish Cottages". Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Cromlix Hotel". Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  8. ^ a b Jody Harrison (20 February 2012). "Famous country house hotel closes". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Cromlix House Including Game Larder, Ancillary Building, Gatepiers And Garden Boundary Walls. LB50619". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Cromlix House, Sundial And Flanking Pair Of Gatepiers (Formerly Fireplace Jambs). LB3997". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Wimbledon champ Jamie Murray ties the knot with fiancée Alejandra Gutierrez". The Daily Record. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  12. ^ "Jamie Murray marries girlfriend". BBC News. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Andy Murray buys £1.8 million Cromlix House Hotel". Sky News. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Hotel bought by Wimbledon champion Andy Murray opens". BBC News. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  15. ^ "Andy Murray marries girlfriend Kim Sears in Dunblane". BBC News. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Andy Murray concerned about father's wedding, not knighthood or Spoty title". The Guardian. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  17. ^ Barr, Selena (22 February 2024). "New walls, please! Andy Murray's hotel gets a funky makeover". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  18. ^ https://homesandinteriorsscotland.com/2025/08/kim-murray-on-designing-the-elegant-dahlia-suite-at-cromlix-hotel/
  19. ^ https://www.thecaterer.com/news/andy-and-kim-murrays-cromlix-begins-work-on-new-80-cover-restaurant
  20. ^ https://aahospitalityawards.com/aahospitalityawards2025/en/page/aa-hotel-of-the-year-scotland-
  21. ^ https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/hotels-stays/Stirlingshire/cromlix-hotel-7681?arr=2026-03-02&dep=2026-03-03&nA=1&nC=0&nR=1
  22. ^ https://www.thenational.scot/news/24206099.scotland-hotel-owned-andy-murray-wins-top-awards/
  23. ^ "And the winners are… - News | VisitScotland.org". www.visitscotland.org. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  24. ^ Elphick, Denise (21 December 2023). "PetsPyjamas Announces the Winners of the 2023 Travel Awards". PetsPyjamas. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Readers' Choice Awards 2021: All the winners". CN Traveller. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
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