Pine Trees Hotel is right in the heart of the Scottish Highlands in picturesque Pitlochry. The town lies between the River Tummel and the Cairngorms National Park, and was popularised by Queen Victoria, who toured the area in 1842. Located on the East Coast Main Line, just two hours from Edinburgh and six from London Kings Cross, its easy access and glorious Highland scenery still draw visitors.
Combining mid-century and traditional styling, the comfortable country-house hotel benefited from a £5 million refurb last year, blending original features like the grand wood-panelled staircase and stained-glass windows with contemporary Scottish art. It's the perfect bolthole for a restorative country escape.
Why stay here?
The Snowdrop room at Pine Trees Hotel
(Image credit: Pine Trees Hotel)
The hotel is home to 18 main-building rooms, including six in the dog-friendly Coach House, seven in Heatherbank House (both bookable individually or as a group), and one-bedroom Heatherbank Cottage.
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Our room, Snowdrop (they're all named after plants or wildlife) in the main building, is contemporary and classic, rich in natural tones and textures, including a blond-wood four-poster bed, sheepskin, and burnt orange accents.
Two velvet armchairs by a window invite us to relax and sample the goodies awaiting us: Iain Burnett Highland Chocolatier chocolates, Pickering's Gin and whisky from Pitlochry's Edradour Distillery, Scotland's smallest.
Other refreshments include hot chocolate, coffee bags for the cafetiere, tea (and teapot) and shortbread. There's no fridge so you'll need to pop to the landing lounge area to pick up milk. That's no hardship, though, because that's where they keep the Tunnock's treats: a help-yourself array of Caramel Wafers, Teacakes and Logs, along with water, crisps, fruit and pastries.
The marble and brass-toned bathroom with walk-in shower has toiletries by North Berwick's Laura Thomas Co., scented with eucalyptus, geranium and lavender –refreshing after a walk. Storage is generous throughout, with lots of handy pegs, a spacious wardrobe and a free-standing full-length mirror.
Eating and drinking
At the hotel's Fauna restaurant, 80% of what's on the menu is Scottish, from the Hebridean blue cheese in my exquisite salad with pear, cranberries, walnuts and arugula to the smoked sea trout in my partner's fishcake. The menu spans hearty classics such as beef shin osso bucco or duck leg terrine, to fresher options such as leek risotto or mushroom served in every conceivable way: mushroom parfait with mushroom soil, mushroom choux bun and pickled mushrooms.
The breakfast choice, also served in Fauna, is equally broad, divided into sweet and savoury: homemade granola with fruit compote or porridge with honey and optional whisky, or a full Scottish, with potential add-ons of a potato scone, Galloway black pudding or haggis, or smoked sea trout with scrambled eggs. Typically Scottish is a morning roll filled with… whatever you want; I had halloumi and roast tomato, picked from the "garden breakfast", plus a tattie scone.
The Flora bar menu has a local focus too. I ordered the creamy, tangy margarita, made with Dark Art's Vespero Blanco, Scotland's first agave spirit, with lime and orange juices, orange liqueur, and finished with a lime and sea salt air. I also had the PT martini, smoked with Douglas fir by the barman as I watched, and finished with pine tree oil, both made from trees in the grounds.
Things to do
After a walk, relax in the welcoming reception and lounge area
(Image credit: Pine Trees Hotel)
Stroll around the gardens, where ancient trees sweep the ground, or go further afield. Raining? Borrow wellies and waterproofs from the boot room. Pitlochry lies in a wooded river valley below 2,757-foot Ben-y-Vrackie, and Schiehallion's conical peak. Get the best sight of that Munro from Queen's View, five miles to the west, named not after Victoria, but for Robert the Bruce's Queen, Isabella. There are enough outdoor gear shops to have hikers in heaven, plus independent retailers of art and handicrafts as well as souvenirs – Macnaughtons, selling Harris tweed and tartan, has been in business since 1835.
Although the town is a popular walkers' base, even novice hikers can stride out with confidence on the 41-mile Pitlochry Paths network, signposted around town. These follow paths, tracks and quiet roads through woodland, beside lochs and rivers and to some high peaks. We found our way across the suspension footbridge over the River Tummel, past the Pitlochry Festival Theatre (summer season until September, with Alan Cumming in charge), circumnavigated Loch Faskally, above the dam, a beautiful three-mile walk, and headed uphill from the hotel to the Cuilc ('kulk'), a pretty pond.
An unusual draw is the hydroelectric (HEP) power station dam, neatly spanning the River Tummel, completed in 1951 as part of the country's first HEP scheme. An ingenious 310-metre "fish ladder" alongside provides a route upstream for spawning salmon, used by over 5,000 salmon annually. Cameras record them navigating the underwater tubes.
The impressive Black Spout waterfall is a three-mile circular walk, and 10 miles away in a rocky gorge is the Falls of Bruar, where poet Robert Burns petitioned the landowner in a poem to plant trees. The duke took Burns' advice, firing Scots pine and larch seeds across the river from a cannon.
A short, scenic drive away is Dewar's Aberfeldy Distillery, where whisky has been made since 1898. Our fascinating tour starts in the museum, detailing the company's history, then passes through the industrial heritage of the distillery, where you'll learn about Dewar's unique double-ageing process, while swallows swoop between the vast copper stills, and on to the tasting room, where we swirl, sip and swallow generous measures.
The verdict
Sweeping vistas of Loch Tummel from Queen's View
(Image credit: munro1 / Getty Images)
Pine Trees Hotel is a warm and welcoming retreat, with genuinely friendly, helpful staff and thoughtful touches throughout, concluding with a big bag of weigh-out sweets at check-out, for the journey. It sets out to embrace the concept of "coorie", a Scots word meaning to nestle or snuggle, similar to the Scandinavian "hygge", and embodies it so well that it's no surprise it won Boutique Hotel of the Year at Scotland's National Hotels of the Year 2025.
Adrienne Wyper has been a freelance sub-editor and writer for The Week's website and magazine since 2015. As a travel and lifestyle journalist, she has also written and edited for other titles including BBC Countryfile, British Travel Journal, Coast, Country Living, Country Walking, Good Housekeeping, The Independent, The Lady and Woman’s Own.
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