Well, this looks like a hidden treasure!
Well, this looks like a hidden treasure! Jessie Mac’s offers ‘luxury accommodation in Perthshire’ with a mix of hostel and B&B accommodation, although its hard to see where the distinction occurs. It is in a renovated Victorian manse (the Scottish equivalent of a rectory or vicarage) with 7 relatively small rooms having between 1 and 5 beds, all of them en-suite. They are charming, bright, comfortable and clean.
This runs on into all the other rooms too. A quick glance at the front page of their website will show you what to expect and give you a visual flavour of the place. There is a dining room and kitchen for catering; drying rooms and bike shed to help out when you’ve come down from the mountain ; the lounge is replete with instruments hanging from the walls. That famous Scottish musical flair must run through this building as their gallery shows a fair bit of joyful fiddling and strumming going on.
I’d recommend spending a moment with their online gallery if you’re thinking of staying their. Its shows a hostel that is also a home. Full of warmth, friendly, a little unbuttoned – perhaps even a little unhinged – but in a charming way. Witness the box of eggs with googly eyes! The fact that the ground floor is wheelchair accessible; that they are explicitly LGBT-friendly (as is their dog apparently); and they’ve won Green tourism awards gives them big thumbs up from me on the ‘ethical and responsibel business’ front.
They’re near Dunkeld in Perthshire, an area rich in forests and small lakes. Just looking at it on the map I have open beside my computer makes me want to pull on my walking boots and explore. They call this area ‘Big Tree Country’ not only because there are lots of them, but also because of their vintage and size. Birnam itself is home to the 500 year old Birnam Oak.
I said it was a hidden gem and I think I was right.