Cromlix Hotel

There’s often good reason to be skeptical about hotels with celebrity connections, but it’s plain that this one is a labor of love — the Scottish tennis champion Andy Murray grew up in Dunblane, the next town over, so when Cromlix, a family favorite, came on the market, he jumped at the chance. And what’s perhaps most surprising for a classic hotel with a young celebrity owner is just how traditional Cromlix remains.

Traditional, but not old-fashioned. It’s a proper Victorian-era country house, built in 1880, and while it’s been updated, most recently by designer Suzanne Garuda, the basic character of the place is left very much intact. Intact, but never exaggerated; there are Scottish luxury hotels that go in for heavy tartan kitsch, but this is not one of them. (The suites are named for famous Scots, but that’s as far as it goes.) Instead you’ll find a vibrant and colorful modern-classic country-house hotel, one that’s inspired by its 19th-century beginnings but free to evolve beyond them.

With just ten rooms and five suites, it’s smallish, but when it comes to services, there’s nothing left out. All the classic country-house activities, from snooker to fishing to shooting, are present and accounted for, and there’s a tennis court as well, naturally, in Wimbledon green and blue. And there’s golf — Gleneagles is close by, as are a half-dozen other fine, if slightly less illustrious, clubs.