Travel: Inverlochy Castle Hotel

Maybe you've already visited Pennan to see the red phone box made famous by the film Local Hero. Or perhaps you've wandered the streets behind Edinburgh's Waverley Station to find the site where Ewan McGregor rolls over the bonnet of a car in Trainspotting.

If you're into the Harry Potter movies you might have looked for Platform 9 and 3/4 at Kings Cross station in London, but if you want to hang out where the cast stayed while filming in Scotland, you'd better book a room at Inverlochy Castle Hotel.

Fans of HP will delight in the knowledge that the cast and crew often checked in here during the making of the movies. Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry and Emma Watson aka Hermione Granger have signed the visitors' book and HP author JK Rowling has also been a guest at the castle.

Even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, you'll find plenty in the castle and its beautiful mature grounds to please you.

Lovers of architecture will admire the imposing structure and layout of the castle which is unchanged from when construction began in 1863. You enter through a rather small but ornate door, and are led through a vestibule before your senses are assaulted by the grandeur of the Great Hall. You'll struggle to take your eyes off the spectacular ceiling complete with fresco depicting cherubs nestling in clouds as well as the Scarlett family crest. Incredibly the cerulean blue of the sky and the ornate gilding are as fresh and bright as they were when first painted.

Built for the third Lord Abinger William Frederick Scarlett, over the years castle guests have included in 1869 Jefferson Davis, the President of the American Confederacy and Queen Victoria who spent a week here sketching four years later. It became a country house hotel in 1969.

You'll get an instant sense of this history when you step into the Lord Arbinger Trophy Room. Rather than the stags you might expect to see in a Highland castle, the full-sized billiard table is overlooked by an impressive collection of trophies of elk from Wyoming and antelope, all shot by Lord Arbinger in the US in the 19th century.

We stayed in a Junior Suite which was sumptuously decorated – we spent 15 minutes alone upending throws, blankets and surprisingly heavy damask drapes looking for our car keys before finding them under a copy of The Scotsman on the coffee table.

Each of the 17 bedrooms is unique in shape, size and decor, but they are all beautifully thought out. For example, wedding parties tend to put their bridesmaids into a room which has a much bigger bathroom than bedroom, including a double-width, full-length mirror, which tends to be monopolised by the bride as soon as she claps eyes on it. Some of the rooms feature traditional fabrics and colours, while others employ more modern designs, but what they have in common is a tactile quality – you can't help but reach out and stroke the backs of plush sofas or run your hand down the side of a velvet curtain. Antique furniture is displayed side by side with must-have gadgetry – each room has a 30in television, DVD and an individual laptop with internet access. We used ours to check the snow report at the Nevis Range ski centre, located seven miles from the castle.

There are the most amazing views of Ben Nevis from many vantage points at the castle. It's particularly stunning at breakfast time as the morning mist clears to reveal the mountain. Of course the highlight of any visit to Inverlochy is dinner. Francois Hugot won a Michelin Star for the castle in 1982, the first awarded in Scotland, and it has been retained ever since, which is a great tribute to the staff, especially head chef Aberdonian Phillip Carnegie – look out for him on an instalment of TV's *Great British Menu one of these days.

We ate in the Red Room, which is wonderfully atmospheric as it's filled with carved oak furniture, a gift from the King of Norway during the Second World War, with beautiful views from the bay windows. This is serious cooking – starters include a carpaccio of black pudding with white truffle scrambled eggs and roast veal sweetbreads, while main options include crispy fillet of sea bass with a Jerusalem artichoke ravioli and a fish veloute.

Eating here is a thoroughly enjoyable experience because everything that is set in front of you is delicious, but it's more than that. The attention to detail is all encompassing from the tiny silver spoon for delivering a sprinkle of salt to the handmade truffles that accompany coffee and a liqueur in the Drawing Room.

In fact, it's really quite magical.

The facts A junior suite at Inverlochy Castle Hotel (01397 702177, www.inverlochycastlehotel.com), starts at 450 per room per night.

Visit www.holidays.scotsman.com for more UK holidays

• This Article was first published in The Scotsman on Saturday March 27, 2010