SCHLOSS Roxburghe is a luxury resort hotel with a spa and an 18-hole golf course in the Scottish Borders. The 300-acre estate is centred around an historic manor house.
Such a building is referred to as a ‘Schloss’ in German and when the Dusseldorf-based 12.18. Group took over the hotel, the term was added to the property’s name. The other half is a reference to the estate’s previous owner, the Duke of Roxburghe.
The reception of this welcoming country hotel is in the manor house, whose ground floor plays host to the hotel’s hospitality outlets.
Left of the reception is Bar 1745, in a cosy library with portraits of the duke behind the bar. Named after the year of the Jacobite Rising, it’s a lovely place to relax in an armchair to sip a good whisky, or, if you prefer, a gin and tonic.
During that rebellion, Bonnie Prince Charlie is reputed to have visited the estate, so Charlie’s is a fitting name for a bistro restaurant where breakfast, lunch and dinner is served. Many of the ingredients are locally sourced and the succulent venison that I enjoyed on my first evening at SCHLOSS Roxburghe was shot on the estate.
The hotel oversees a farming project, and seasonal dishes are also served in Sunlaws, the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant. À la carte and tasting menus are available with wine pairings optional.
Meanwhile, light bites are offered in the Estate Room Lounge, which is ideal for pre or post-dinner drinks.
The ground floor is also the location of the SCHLOSS Spa, which has four treatment rooms. The heated outdoor pool was ideal for a handful of leisurely laps after a stroll on the golf course. Afterwards, I relaxed in the Finnish and aroma saunas, chatting with day guests and a couple of locals with spa memberships, then moving as a group to converse further while sitting in the hot tub.
Rather than staying in one of the rooms in the manor house, or the Estate House extension from 2022 that also contains the spa, my accommodation was a five-minute walk away in one of the 51 cottages added in 2024. With two bedrooms, my cottage had a spacious lounge with a connected dining room and a well-designed kitchen. Guests staying in the cottages receive a daily voucher for provisions that can be redeemed at the estate’s store, which is near the building that houses Kio Kid’s Club, where youngsters aged between four and 12 can spend the day.
Electric buggies are available for transfers between the manor house and the cottages, but I enjoyed the walk between the two. I spotted squirrels, rabbits and several bird species along the way.
Being a lapsed golfer, I decided against playing a round on the beautifully maintained course whose allure was added to by mist and sunshine when I was walking it. Instead, I played at the driving range, which has engaging Toptracer technology that means it’s possible to simulate playing some of the world’s top courses or select a handful of alternative functions, including aiming towards targets.
Alternative targets were set up for me and my fellow guests to aim at during our country sports session. We were provided tuition in archery and clay pigeon shooting and surprised ourselves within a matter of minutes. None of us were experienced but within a short while were enjoying success in hitting our targets.
The staff members I chatted with were engaging and informed about the hotel and surrounding area. Overall, SCHLOSS Roxburghe proved a relaxing place to spend a couple of nights, with the grounds and spa providing plenty to keep me occupied when I wasn’t enjoying the good food.
The Details
SCHLOSS Roxburghe, Part of Destination by Hyatt, Heiton by Kelso, TD5 8JZ, Scotland.
Tel. +44 (0)1573 450331
Website: www.schlosshotel-roxburghe.com
Email: info@schlossroxburghe.com
SCHLOSS Roxburghe is located off the A698, approximately four miles southwest of Kelso. A little under 50 miles from Edinburgh, this resort hotel is approximately 75 minutes southeast of the Scottish capital. It is roughly 70 miles northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, a journey that takes about an hour and 40 minutes via the A696 and A68. Helicopter transfers can also be arranged from airports, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Type of Hotel: 5-Star Resort Hotel with Spa and Golf Course
Number of Rooms: There are 20 rooms and suites with complimentary Wi-Fi inside the manor house building. SCHLOSS Roxburghe’s Estate House opened in 2022 and has 58 rooms and suites, meaning the hotel has a total of 78 rooms. In 2024, 51 self-catering cottages were opened in the grounds.
Price Band: High
Insider Tip: Rise early to walk the grounds before breakfast and you may see mist shrouding the fairways plus an array of birdlife – including black grouse, red kites and kingfishers – plus red deer, otters and rabbits.
Book a whisky tasting in Bar 1745, within the manor house’s library, to sample three examples of Scotland’s national spirit while hearing a wealth of information about the whisky industry, distilling and the characteristics of the golden drams in the glasses before you.
Bring your best friend. SCHLOSS Roxburghe is a dog-friendly hotel and offers rooms with a basket or rug for pets as well as water.
Make use of the resort’s country sports centre to experience clay pigeon shooting, archery, angling for trout in the lake or salmon fishing in the River Teviot.
Bring your golf clubs and play a round of golf on the 7,100-yard SCHLOSS Roxburghe Championship Golf Course. The fifth hole of the Dave Thomas-designed course is its signature, beginning on a tee looking towards the Roxburgh Viaduct spanning the River Teviot. Food is also served in the clubhouse bar.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 /10
Author Bio:
Stuart Forster is an award-winning freelance travel writer based in northeast England. He participated in the 2023 Scottish Borders Walking Festival, which was based in Kelso.
Photographs by Stuart Forster
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