Big Husky Lodge

A ski lodge that became a house for twenty five

The building was an alpine ski lodge before it was a holiday let, and it still reads that way: 5,500 square feet of timber, with a lounge long enough to hold a bespoke red cedar table seating twenty five. It goes to one group at a time, for weddings, stag and hen weekends, corporate stays, and family gatherings that need everybody in one building.

Six of the eight bedrooms are en-suite. There is a super king master, kings in the Chesterfield and industrial rooms, a retro double, a triple with single beds, a twin, and two family bunk rooms. Alongside those the operator lists a pull out sofa bed for two in the snug it calls Wolfies Lair, which is worth knowing before you divide a party of twenty five into rooms.

The ground floor suits a group that will not all want the same thing at once, with the hand carved bar the operator calls the Grey Man's Inn at one end, a games room off it, and a library snug to retreat to. Three log burning stoves are spread through the lodge, logs supplied, and the gated garden outside has a barbecue and a children's play area.

Good to know

Features

Location

Where it puts you

Kinveachy sits on the A95 a short way out of Aviemore, on the road towards Boat of Garten and Grantown on Spey, which is the quieter side of the Cairngorms. There is no station nearby, so the operator's advice for arrival by train is a taxi from Aviemore.

Golf is unusually well served here: the operator counts eight courses in the local area, among them the James Braid course at Boat of Garten and the par 72 Spey Valley championship course. Loch Insh, which the operator puts at a twenty minute drive, has the kayaking and the sailing, while Landmark at Carrbridge and the Highland Wildlife Park deal with a wet afternoon. Mountain Grange is the same operator's other house near Boat of Garten, if your dates here have gone.