Westin Turnberry Resort
The Westin Turnberry Resort on the Ayrshire Coast in Scotland is one of THE Great Hotels of the World.
This has been wild week with wind and rain making me wish I was in the Middle East researching rather than the south of Scotland writing.
Never mind I had the celebration of my mother’s 80th birthday to look forward too but was having trouble deciding on a suitable present.
She has no room left for ornaments and in any case I wanted to get her something she wouldn’t have to dust.
When I was little we used to go to Turnberry Hotel on Saturday afternoons. She and my aunt would enjoy afternoon tea while Dad took my brother and I to the swimming pool. Afterwards we would look out of the windows at the superb view over the championship Golf course and the Firth of Clyde to Ailsa Craig, the Island of Arran and the Mull of Kintyre. We might even be allowed one of the splendid cream cakes and a glass of lemonade.
So I decided I would take her back to Turnberry or the Westin Turnberry Resort as it is now. I didn’t tell her where we were going just that it was a surprise and that she needed to pack an overnight bag.
As a travel writer I get to stay in a lot of five star hotels. It takes a lot to impress me but the Westin Turnberry managed. Yes it’s a great hotel to look at. A long white building with red roof tiles perched on top of a small hill. And it has every luxury you could ask for in a hotel of its kind. Spa, pool, championship golf course, outdoor and adventure centre and of course gourmet dining. It has without a doubt the finest view of any hotel in the world. OK I’m biased. I grew up on this part of the Scottish coast and think it has no equal but what impressed me most about the Westin Turnberry was the standard of service. Put simply it was World Class.
It has nothing to do with the Middle East so I can’t really tell you much more about it here. But I have arranged to write guest articles for my colleagues who write Luxury Travel and UKIreland Travel for Suite 101. When I’ve done that you can link to them from this blog.
And my mother? Well she had a grand time and told me later that it was one of the best birthday presents she had ever had. Furthermore she would not need to dust it.
