ONE OF THE BEST SUMMER VACATIONS IN SCOTLAND

Every year LTR works on fun projects and 2016 was no exception.  There are of course highlights, and for me, this summers most fun visit, and what must be one of the best summer vacations in Scotland, was the house party I arranged at Kinross House, for 27 folk from Rome, GA.

An unusually large party which very few homes could accommodate, but Kinross was perfect with 14 bedrooms in the main house and a further 11 in the courtyard.  The host, like all our clients is a busy man and has exacting standards but we quickly established a great working relationship and he trusted my judgement.  Over an 8 month period, we put together for him and his guests an incredible week of fun at this magnificent home, overlooking Loch Leven.  This involved countless hours of planning & hundreds of emails between myself and not only the guests but a myriad of suppliers.  However, this is what we do best and is the reason clients knock on LTR’s door.

Each guest was sent a menu of activity options and these preferences along with dietary needs, wine orders, transport requirements and their own individual requests were carefully compiled into a master plan from which we kept track of our hyper active Georgia team.  Each day, guests were dispatched, in a myriad of chauffeur driven vehicles to play golf, visit castles, explore Edinburgh with our top guide or attend a private whiskey tasting at Edradour distillery.  Their mass arrival at the House of Bruar sent the tills into overdrive and would have put Imelda Marcos to shame.  Their visit to Georgian Antiques was a little more restrained but this was not a group that did things by half.  When a last minute request was made to visit Dalmeny House, a private tour was laid on and their visit was graciously hosted by Lady Roseberry.  There were boat rides on the loch and hopefully enough time for guests to do their own thing, as well as join in all the scheduled trips, which is a balance LTR really strives to perfect.  Every evening there was something going on, card games, a whiskey tasting with Charlie Maclean, a poker evening and always a ready supply of refreshments!

The real star of the week was Kinross House itself and the magnificent team of staff, lead by the butler Douglas above stairs and Andrew the chef below stairs.  It is a great skill to provide immaculate service and this was combined with a huge amount of charm which completely won over the guests.  We made the most of the splendid grounds to host a croquet master class, some clay pigeon shooting, a gripping falconry display and Kenny the gardener did a great tour of his domain.  An evening barbecue overlooking the loch with the grounds lit up was pretty magical but perhaps the highlight was the gala dinner organized at the stunning Glamis Castle, which was floodlit on arrival with a piper in full ceremonial dress to greet them.  There is something about the approach to Glamis down the long drive that never fails to impress.  The state dining room was looking magnificent and with candles twinkling, silver gleaming and some very fine wines being served, the guests all described it as a magical evening.  We had a final night ceilidh where guests and staff danced reels together, smoked cigars and sipped drams in front of a roaring fire.  It was a beautiful sight to see such harmony between guests & staff and there were tearful farewells.  These kind of visits make me very proud of LTR and the service we offer.  There was laughter and good humor throughout their stay and Scotland truly put its best foot forward.