How exciting to be staying in a hotel where some of golf’s most memorable and iconic golfers have also stayed, so when we were invited to stay a couple of nights and experience the hospitality at Carnoustie Golf Hotel & Spa, we jumped at it.

My golfing buddy and I packed our bags, polished our clubs and had a few practice rounds locally before travelling to Scotland, so as not to embarrass ourselves on the Championship and Burnside courses at the hotel, booked through Carnoustire Golf Links, (please note these courses are booked seperately to the hotel).

We travelled in style by Caledonian Sleeper from Euston to Carnoustie in a fantastic sleeper compartment, that included a super-comfy bed, a powerful shower and dinner and breakfast. The sleeper train was so quiet, ensuring we enjoyed our overnight journey and arrived in Carnoustie fresh and ready for our first round of golf. The sleeper compartment was plenty big enough to fit our luggage that included a full set of clubs as well as a small suitcase.

As soon as we checked in to our sleeper compartments we went to the dining carriage where we ordered our evening meal of soup, roast beef, and apple pie with custard, all presented beautifully, tasting great and steaming hot. It was now quite late so we went straight to bed and slept like babies arriving in Carnoustie nice and early following a bacon sandwich in our room with coffee and orange juice, we were now set for our early morning first round of golf.

But before golf we checked in to our double room at the Carnoustie Golf Hotel & Spa, it was large and bright with every possible amenity, free wifi, two single beds with crisp white bed linen,  a fabulous bathroom, a seating area, tea and coffee making facilities and most importantly a superb view of the golf course.

Unpacked and ready to go, the nerves suddenly kicked in, we were after all playing on one of the world’s most famous courses. We played well on The Burnside, we were lucky it was a sunny bright day, it was indeed challenging but what an experience.

Following our round, we were treated to Afternoon Tea, not something I had experienced before, but we were famished and boy did we enjoy this quintessentially British and rather civilised event. The dainty sandwiches were delicious, as were the pastries and scones, and the choice of tea was a little intimidating, but we played it safe and went for English Breakfast Tea, we were dehydrated, thirsty and hungry and this was just a real pleasure.

At this point in the day, in hindsight, we really should have gone to our room for a rest, but no, we decided to go to the driving range and hit a few more balls, in readiness for our round of golf the next day on The Championship Course.

We eventually returned to our room for a very quick freshen up and ventured to the restaurant, Calders Bistro. for dinner, I can’t believe it but we were actually hungry again.

Dinner was superb, we both decided to try the Haggis spring rolls to begin with that were absolutely delicious and then we chose the Americano Burger, served in a brioche bun, with gherkins, relish, cheese and fried onions and of course fries, it was steaming hot and the burger was soft and juicy, we cleared our plates. We didn’t really have room for dessert, but we decided to have a selection of sorbets, this was the lightest choice, but if you do have room the chocolatey dessert selection looked amazing.

Following a great night’s sleep in our comfy beds, we had a reasonably early large cooked breakfast in preparation for our next round of golf. The breakfast selection was amazing, we really needed that good preperation for our few hours of golf so opted for a full English, fresh fruit, pastries, orange juice and coffee, perfection!

It was typically Scottish weather, so we were told by our caddies, it was howling, wet and very windy, we could not of cared less, we were so excited to be playing the Championship Course, and our caddies said it was the best conditions to play in to gain the optimum experience. The caddies also told us with weather conditions like this it’s one of the most tricky courses in the world. The caddies made the golfing experience very special, they helped with advice on every hole and we both played to our maximum potential and played out of our skins. We had our Lomond Golf Company clothing on so the weather conditions didn’t really matter and we loved every minute of it.

That evening we dined again in Calders Bistro, reliving every hole, before retiring happy and fulfilled to bed, before rising for our final day in Carnoustie.

We were a little achy and decided to treat ourselves to some time in the spa, we swam to loosen up our muscles and then went for a massage, it was just what we needed. The spa was stunning, we did see the gym, but sadly apart from aching from tough rounds of golf, we ran out of time and so couldn’t take advantage of the state-of-the -art gym equipment.

Sadly we had to return to reality, but it was not all bad, we had our rooms booked on the Caledonian Sleeper again. We had dinner and breakfast on the train and arrived in Euston fully relaxed at 8 am.

This was possibly, we both agreed, the most special weekend we’ve ever had in the UK. The Caledonian Sleeper, the Carnoustie Golf Hotel and Spa and The Carnoustie Golf Links course, we’d give it 11 out of ten if we could.

Carnoustie Hotel

T: 01241 411 999
E: Reservations
W: Carnoustie Golf Hotel and Spa

Written by Joshua Aaron and Elliot Farmer for Luxuria Lifestyle London and International