glasgow

Glasgow's New Spa Hotel Blythswood Square Set To Open

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas

I first mentioned way back in 2006 that the headquarters of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club in Glasgow, Scotland would become a hotel and it is finally ready to open in October. Blythswood Square will have 100 bedrooms including four suites and a top floor penthouse complete with rooftop hot tub. The hotel is also home to a luxury spa offering indigenous Scottish treatments, a restaurant, bars, a private screening room and event facilities.

Scotland's Harris Tweed is a major design component of the hotel. The classic textile is being incorporated into the furniture, curtains and even restaurant menus. The Royal Scottish Automobile Club's ballroom has been transformed into a restaurant and cocktail bar. Harris Tweed shows up again in the design of the private screening room.

The Spa at Blythswood Square offers a Seaweed Bath chamber filled with healing organic seaweed sourced from the Hebrides. The marble Heat Suite offers a range of hot and cold experiences including a large hydrotherapy pool. The relaxation pool leads to the Dark Pool where guests can float under a crystal chandelier. The spa also houses a Rasul, relaxation rooms and nine treatment rooms including a double suite.

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Tags: blythswood square, BlythswoodSquare, glasgow, hotel, scotland

Macallan 50-Year-Old Sells High At Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Auctions

When it comes to whisky, the rare vintages always seem to find a buyer. Case in point, a Macallan 50th anniversary bottle which recently sold for £11,750 at auction in Glasgow, Scotland. The bottle, which contains whisky from three casks distilled between 1926 and 1928, sold to a private collector from California at McTear's auctioneers. It is the most expensive bottle sold at auction this year and the most expensive 50-year-old bottle of Macallan ever sold.

The bottle was part of an auction of collectible whiskies on August 5 that saw 574 lots reach almost £155,000,the largest sale of its kind in the world. Other top lots included a 60-year-old Royal Brackla for £3,800 and a limited edition 1965 bottle of Ardbeg, which sold for £3,000. The Macallan Anniversary 50 year old was one of over 60 Macallan lots in the sale. McTear's Rare and Collectible whisky sale is held quarterly in Glasgow.

[via BBC News]

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Tags: auction, glasgow, macallan, vintage whisky, VintageWhisky, whisky

No Hilton Discount for Paris

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

No discount for Paris Hilton at the Hilton? It seems lie the heiress has a sense of humor. The Daily Record reports that while in Scotland, she was on the Real Radio Breakfast Show and she, as a prank, called the Glasgow Hilton to ask for a room at a discount rate. She explains who she is and asks for the corporate rate and the desk clerk tells her that the best he can do is a queen room at £170. When she asks for a discount she is refused. I'd love to hear the tape of this.

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Tags: glasgow, hilton hotels, paris hilton, ParisHilton

The Pot Still Voted Best Whisky Bar in the World

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Where is the best place in the world to drink whisky? According to Whisky Magazine, it's The Pot Still, a pub in Glasgow, Scotland. It recently won the honor at the Icons of Whisky awards in London. The bar has a long history that dates back to the 1870s and features walls of just about every whisky imaginable (483 bottles and counting). Whisky lovers from around the world have traveled to the Pot Still to make a pilgrimage to the legendary bar. They also offer hearty pub fare and ales on tap just in case you aren't there just for the whisky.

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Tags: awards, best bar, best pub, glasgow, scotch, the pot still, ThePotStill, whiskey, whisky

Royal Scottish Automobile Club To Become a Luxury Hotel

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Europe Travel News reports that Edinburgh hoteliers, The Town House Company, have purchased a landmark building in Glasgow, Scotland for a new luxury hotel. The former home of the former Royal Scottish Automobile Club in Blythswood Square was built in 1823 and will become a 109-bedroom hotel. The hotel renovating the building with conference facilities, restaurants, a bar and a leisure club and spa. The building's central location and architectural features and interior details such as wood paneling, marble flooring and Art Deco fixtures make it a natural for a destination hotel. Work on the building will begin soon and the opening is planned for late 2007.

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Tags: destination hotel, glasgow, scotland, scottish automobile club

Stressed Scotland Skipper Quits Race

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

We haven't really been keeping track of the Round the World Yacht Race since we mentioned it this summer but I found it interesting that the skipper of the Glasgow clipper has quit the race. In this race only the skipper is a professional, the rest of the crew are volunteers who paid to be on board. Graeme Johnston ditched his crew when they came last in a race from South Africa to Australia. According toThe Evening Times he quit as soon as his ship landed in Australia, a full four days behind the winners. The next race starts up on January 1 and they are scrambling to find a new person to helm the Glasgow boat. The race was the fourth in a series of eight and stress is believed to have played a factor in Johnston's decision.

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Tags: glasgow, racing results, round the world yacht race, RoundTheWorldYachtRace, sailing, yacht racing