Knock Castle Hotel & Spa, Crieff

Set in beautiful historic Perthshire, there’s a luxury secret waiting to be discovered. Just an hour drive from Glasgow and Edinburgh, you’ll reach the market town of Crieff. With beautiful woodlands and views out towards the Perthshire hills, it’s home to Knock Castle, a luxury hotel and spa.

Upon driving up the winding road to the top of the hill where Knock Castle is proudly perched, we were excited to find out what lay ahead of us. Knock Castle prides itself on excellent hospitality and service, something we were keen to experience ourselves as a break from city life back in Edinburgh.

The Room

Upon entering our room for the night, we were both immediately impressed. All of the castle rooms are unique, offering their own different charm and nod to the past, lavished with beautiful antiques. Bursting with the scent of fresh flowers the room smelt amazing every time you walked into it. Allowing us to become instantly relaxed, though I’m sure the bubbly and chocolates helped! Our room offered everything we could need, including tea and coffee, complimentary toiletries and a wonderful giant bathtub with views overlooking the Perthshire hills. We jumped straight into our robes and headed down to the spa where a treatment was waiting for us and the chance to soak away our worries in the hot tub.

The Spa

Heading down into the hotel spa, we were keen to try out some of their treatments. I had a back, neck and shoulders Swedish massage (£30 for 30 mins) which was most needed after spending a lot of time at my desk for work; whilst Luke received an express maintenance facial (£35 for 30mins) leaving his skin fresh and rejuvenated.

The pool area combined with hot tub, sauna, steam room and gym are situated in a large glass out-house just a few steps across from the spa, which is part of the hotel. We had the area to ourselves, however they do also offer adult only pool timings if you want to relax in a none-family setting. Set in the grounds of the castle, the pool is surrounded by woodlands with views out to the rolling hills in the distance.

The Hotel

Knock Castle Hotel prides itself on ‘affordable luxury without compromise’ and we both very much felt it lived up to that expectation. Nothing was too much of an ask from the staff and we were provided with everything we could need or want within our stay. From the reception you’ll hear the grand piano playing down the hall, whilst there’s also an additional bar and club room downstairs, there’s even a cinema room you can hire a DVD to watch in as your own personal theatre. The staff were wonderfully welcoming and made us feel right at home.

The Food

At the top of Knock Castle you’ll find their rooftop restaurant, overlooking the beautiful Perthshire hills and beyond. There were three different menus on offer to chose from, depending on your tastes, or there’s even the option to mix between the bar menu, à la carte, or the seven course set degustation menu. We settled on the à la carte menu, with starters of cider-braised fennel shuffle with burnt orange and port reduction for me, and ceviche scallops with crab and a gazpacho dressing for Luke.

Moving onto mains we were both keen to try the steak. Luke had the steak of the day which was a T-bone and I had the pan fried fillet of Aberdeen Angus served with rosemary and garlic fondant potatoes, garnished with pea and mint puree and a cafe au lait sauce. Delicious! Perfect for accompanying with a bottle of red shiraz, we just about had room for dessert.

Never one to pass up a sweet treat, I opted for the fresh raspberry and lime cheesecake with a pistachio crust, whilst Luke had the pear pan cotta served with passion fruit coulis and apple crisps. All of the food in the restaurant was great and just enough to keep up full but not uncomfortably stuffed.

The Grounds

Waking up in our castle deluxe room, we opened the curtains to look out and admire the view over the surrounding woodlands and town of Crieff below. We set out to explore the grounds, getting lost in the woodland and exploring all of the hidden gems on site at Knock Castle. In the woodlands you’ll find a summer house, perfect for taking a bottle of wine out to toast to a wonderful stay. Having a wonder down the winding paths surrounding the grounds we came across wild flowers and daffodils just coming into spring bloom.

We loved our stay at Knock Castle and would highly recommend it for a luxury weekend break that’s just a stone throw from major cities. Will you be making a visit? You can book here.

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