The Fife Arms is a luxurious 5-star hotel situated in Braemar, Ballater, United Kingdom. Nestled in a 19th-century hunting lodge on Clunie Water, this ornately designed hotel is a 2-minute walk from central Braemar and 15 minutes from Braemar Castle. It is also just 8.9 miles away from the Glenshee Ski Centre. The Fife Arms is renowned for its great rooms, location, service, and stylish ambiance. The hotel features excellent amenities such as a spa, free parking, and great breakfast. It offers free Wi-Fi, free breakfast, an accessible pool, air conditioning, pet-friendly accommodations, a kids-friendly environment, a restaurant, airport shuttle, spa, bar, and a smoke-free atmosphere. The hotel's exceptional dining options include the Flying Stag, the Clunie Dining Room, Bertie's Bar, and the Drawing Room. Overall, The Fife Arms is an elegant and magnificent hotel that offers outstanding services and amenities in a picturesque location.
Reviews
The Fife Arms is truly one of the most unique and wonderful places I have ever been. We visited last October in preparation to host our very small wedding there (10 guests) this October 2023. We were blown away by the kindness and dedication of all of their staff during our first stay which continued through our planning process the following year. The wedding was absolutely perfect. We planned multiple activities/excursions, meals, etc in addition to the ceremony with the hotel and the execution by their event team - Katie and Louise - was phenomenal. Not a single thing went awry the entire 4 day stay with all of our guests. On top of being an incredibly beautiful, funky, unique venue, it is one of the most comfortable hotels I've ever stayed at. Their rooms are gorgeous, the beds are very comfortable. Their food and cocktails are absolutely delicious. Every single staff member puts so much attention to detail and care into their work. It is just an incredibly special place and if you have the opportunity to visit, please please do. It is a magical place that will be a part of our family for a long time.
The Fife Arms has made a name for itself in a relatively short period of time. They have done a great job at training staff in a rural setting to a high standard which is not easy to do. The hotels renovation is done beautifully and mostly keeps to its heritage apart from a few ill appointed modern finishes. The rooms thankfully remain sympathetic to the original keep of the building filled with lovely furnishings and art. In fact the art throughout the hotel is straight out of a gallery and makes for a great afternoon of study. They have just opened a wonderful spa and have an exceptional whisky room with some rare selections. Where the hotel struggles is with food. It remains inconsistent over the years, sometimes delivering a wonderful product and other times not. All in all it’s been a very positive impact for the community and absolutely worth a visit and a return, especially during the Games and holidays. To achieve this level of offering in rural Scotland takes enormous effort and investment. I applaud the effort and wish them ongoing success.
My wife and I stayed at the Fife Arms for 6 nights in November and we were nothing short of blown away from the moment we entered to when we had to (sadly) leave. For somewhere that has been recently refurbished, the hotel has this timeless and lived in, old Victorian atmosphere which makes you feel at home almost instantly. Food, drink, staff, setting were all superb and will definitely be back again.
As an additional note - we came with our dog and the staff couldn't have been more helpful to accommodate us, even setting the table in a secluded part of the lobby by a fireplace so we could have drinks/dinner with him throughout our stay. I would say definitely dog friendly here, unlike other hotels where your dog is merely tolerated!
We've been meaning to go for a wee while as it's almost on our doorstep. The restaurant surroundings are excellent, but the service was only so so. What we assumed to be the restaurant manager must have walked past out table 20 or 20 times without a smile or "how was everything" which was unusual for an upmarket restaurant.
The friendly wine sommelier tried hard to talk us out of our wine choice.
The waitress who plonked our mains down, seemed to burn her fingers on the very hot sides dishes, mumbled something about the food before quickly disappearing. Probably to run her fingers under a cold tap.
The pork cheek starter was small, but we'll presented and tasty. However, the £42 fillet was average at best, and a bit tasteless if we're honest as were the 4 or 5 chips which seemed unseasoned.
The elderflower slice desert was truly spectacular and worth a visit on its own. Kudos to the pastry chef.
All in all, a £240 bill for a meal for two should have been a much better experience and left quite disappointed
That said, one waitress (Hannah) was extremely helpful and became the only thing that stopped us complaining to the manager on the night.
The very Grand Fife Hotel has a Stella reputation, so perhaps we just went on a bad evening, but for us, the overall service quality, the food and the high price means we won't be racing back anytime soon.
we went to the fife arms hotel for the second time. the reception staff was really helpful and welcoming and we stayed in one of the suits and an additional room which were both incredible and very clean. we had tea when we arrived and didn’t get served for 15 mins and had to find someone. when the tea came there was no milk nor sugar. the tea was also served with tea bags still in it and there was nothing to put those after. furthermore the tea was in a simple boring tea bod which wasn’t suited for that kind of hotel it pretends to be. we did reserve a table in the main restaurant before our stay but we still didn’t get a table and had to have dinner in the main restaurant which is accessible for everyone and has the same ten dishes for lunch and dinner. the menu was boring, the tables were dirty and sticky and the staff in the restaurant wasn’t really on track, needed a long time to serve us and was just not efficient with our wishes. the service and restaurant itself was just disappointing. we went to the whiskey bar after dinner. the staff was perfect and very helpful and the variety of whiskeys was impressive. in conclusion it is a nice hotel but not on the standard you expect of a fife star hotel.
We (used to) often go here for drinks and food. It’s a beautiful place in an amazing landscape and we have never had any problems. Unfortunately the other day we were very disappointed as we were turned away for drinks as we were not staying at the hotel. We could see into the coffee room where many people were being served with a lot of free tables. It felt snooty and we felt looked down on- went away feeling like our bank accounts weren’t big enough for their requirements, quite sad.
Mark and Laura were fantastic. My girlfriend and I walked into the fife arms for a Sunday roast and we left stunned by how good these two are. So welcoming, friendly, knowledgable and entertaining. You have to go to the whisky room, it’s a must. Mark is so genuine and engages so well; he finds a whisky for everyone! Laura has an art form, exemplary service
Very poor experience. Brought my mother up for a visit, for the afternoon. Very few options in the town, so settled with the Fife Arms.
We were told that there were no tables available due to reservations. There were quite clearly a number of tables, 6-8 nearby with nobody seated.
We were directed to another venue nearby - The Braemar Bothy - we had a lovely lunch, great coffee and nice service - far more welcoming.
I'd like to believe that the reservations were in place, but based on other reviews, I firmly believe that arriving in hiking shorts, cap and a gilet aren't quite what the staff look for in their clientele. No time for snobbery, or rudeness.
Thanks to the staff for the better recommendation, where our money was better spent.
Do better, Fife Arms.
The Fife Arms is truly one of the most unique and wonderful places I have ever been. We visited last October in preparation to host our very small wedding there (10 guests) this October 2023. We were blown away by the kindness and dedication of all of their staff during our first stay which continued through our planning process the following year. The wedding was absolutely perfect. We planned multiple activities/excursions, meals, etc in addition to the ceremony with the hotel and the execution by their event team - Katie and Louise - was phenomenal. Not a single thing went awry the entire 4 day stay with all of our guests. On top of being an incredibly beautiful, funky, unique venue, it is one of the most comfortable hotels I've ever stayed at. Their rooms are gorgeous, the beds are very comfortable. Their food and cocktails are absolutely delicious. Every single staff member puts so much attention to detail and care into their work. It is just an incredibly special place and if you have the opportunity to visit, please please do. It is a magical place that will be a part of our family for a long time.
The Fife Arms has made a name for itself in a relatively short period of time. They have done a great job at training staff in a rural setting to a high standard which is not easy to do. The hotels renovation is done beautifully and mostly keeps to its heritage apart from a few ill appointed modern finishes. The rooms thankfully remain sympathetic to the original keep of the building filled with lovely furnishings and art. In fact the art throughout the hotel is straight out of a gallery and makes for a great afternoon of study. They have just opened a wonderful spa and have an exceptional whisky room with some rare selections. Where the hotel struggles is with food. It remains inconsistent over the years, sometimes delivering a wonderful product and other times not. All in all it’s been a very positive impact for the community and absolutely worth a visit and a return, especially during the Games and holidays. To achieve this level of offering in rural Scotland takes enormous effort and investment. I applaud the effort and wish them ongoing success.
Location
Hours
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Monday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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Tuesday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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Wednesday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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Thursday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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Friday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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Saturday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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Sunday
03:00 PM - 12:00 PM
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