Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom

Dornoch Station

Price per night from$185.20

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (GBP139.86), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Dornoch Station Photos

Style

Above par pad

Setting

Fawning over the Firth

Explore

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Within swinging distance from Sutherland’s storied links, Dornoch Station wins big with putters and ramblers alike. Your proximity to the course is combined with an on-site putting green, clubs to rent and coordinated tee times. Non-golfers will delight in  drams of whisky paired with seasonal, Highlands victuals, scenic Firth-side strolls, and restful rooms that set you up for a top-scoring ‘second round’.

Smith Extra

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A bottle of champagne per room

Facilities

Photos Dornoch Station facilities

Need to know

Rooms

89, including 10 suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible until 1pm for £20 an hour. Earliest check-in is at 3pm.

More details

Rates include a Continental and buffet breakfast, served daily at the Golden Gorse, with à la carte options available on request.

Also

All the hotel’s communal spaces are set across one level, and there’s a ramp up to reception for wheelchair users. Some of the rooms have also been adapted for guests with limited mobility.

At the hotel

Direct access to Royal Dornoch Golf Club, private putting green, golf club storage and rental, free-to-borrow bikes, concierge, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV with Chromecast, minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, free bottled water, bathrobes, slippers and Floris bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Thoughtful nods to Dornoch Station’s coastal locale are a constant throughout all rooms and suites, but for sweeping scenes of the Firth itself, it has to be the Dornoch Sea View Deluxe and its water-watching bay windows. If you’re looking to stay a while, the Junior and King Suites pair their panoramas with cosseting living spaces.

Spa

There’s no spa, but the hotel has partnered with Dornoch-based Aspen Spa to soothe swing-weary muscles — staff will be happy to help you book.

Packing tips

As much energy as you can muster: this coastal crashpad can be calming if you’d rather, but to make the most of its Highlands setting, exploring comes top of to-do lists.

Also

There’s a fitness centre fitted with Peloton bikes, treadmills and weights, open daily.

Pet‐friendly

Pups are welcome to join you for £35 a night, just let the team know they're coming when you book. Beds and bowls are provided, and they're welcome everywhere but the restaurant. There are also maps at reception with Fido-friendly trails traced out. See more pet-friendly hotels in Scottish Highlands.

Children

Welcome; there aren’t any specific facilities for little Smiths, but some rooms can be set-up with a rollaway bed to accommodate three.

Food and Drink

Photos Dornoch Station food and drink

Top Table

On the green velvet-dressed banquette at the Golden Gorse, and by a view-framed window at Bar Ross.

Dress Code

Argyle jumpers and flat caps is the unofficial uniform of Bar Ross; but for evenings at the Golden Gorse, styled-down suits and elegant hues hit the mark.

Hotel restaurant

There may be a French-bistro feel to refined interiors at the Golden Gorse — from its gently lit, vintage tables and antique accents — but its menus are assuredly Scottish. The Highlands’ bounty guides dinner choices, with hand-collected scallops, oysters and lobster, and cuts from locally reared cattle as your cross-season staples. Breakfasts include Scotch pancakes, toast with any and all toppings, and haggis-focused fry-ups.

Hotel bar

Given its namesake is the golf architect Donald Ross, it’s only fitting that Bar Ross be your base for between-links refuelling. There’s craft ales, wines, all your classic cocktails and, of course, Dornoch-distilled whiskies. You’ll also have a selection of bite-size pub grub for tipple-paired grazing throughout the day.

Last orders

The Golden Gorse serves breakfast from 7am to 10am, and dinner from 5.30pm to 9.30pm; Bar Ross is open 10am to 9pm, with lunch available from 11.30am to 2.30pm and an all-day snack menu from 2.30pm to 9pm.

Room service

Anything from the Golden Gorse or Bar Ross’s menus can be brought to you in bed during opening hours.

Location

Photos Dornoch Station location
Address
Dornoch Station
Grange Road
Dornoch
IV25 3LF
United Kingdom

In the Scottish Highlands, a few miles off the North Coast 500, Dornoch Station sits in its namesake coastal town in the northeastern county of Sutherland.

Planes

Inverness is your closest international airport; private transfers can be arranged for the 60-minute drive to Dornoch for an additional cost. Transfers are available from Edinburgh Airport, too, which is a further four-hour drive.

Trains

ScotRail services run from Inverness to Tain, which is your closest station and around 15 minutes away by car. Private transfers can be arranged on request, for an extra charge.

Automobiles

Dornoch itself is a walkable town and there are free bikes to borrow from the hotel, if you’d rather cycle. For those cruising along the North Coast 500 and arriving by car, there’s free parking on-site.

Worth getting out of bed for

Swing for an ace at the storied Royal Dornoch Golf Club, a short walk from the hotel and, in all likelihood, your primary reason for visiting these pastoral Scottish parts. Tee times can be arranged by staff, and club rentals are available from reception if you’ve left your woods behind. There’s also a private putting green on Dornoch Station’s front lawn if you’d rather practise your chipping before taking it to the championship links. 

There’s plenty for non-golfers, too, including salt-swept walks (or horse rides) along nearby Dornoch Beach, and wildlife spotting over its namesake firth. Fly fishing and archery invite you to polish your aim, and the surrounding Highlands are wrapped with scenic hiking and cycling paths. Dornich Heritage Trail, Canmore Woods and Loch Fleet Nature Reserve are strong selections for walkers, and the bike ride between Dornoch and Embo takes you along the coast’s former railway route. If you’d rather a glass of whisky in hand over a wedge, tasings are held at the nearby Glenmorangie Distillery, and drams can be savoured back at base, too.

Local restaurants

Sitting in an unassuming food truck along Dornoch Beach’s sultry sands, The Highland Larder is a local favourite for straight-from-the-firth seafood. For a putting pitstop, Mara dishes its ever-changing menu of seasonal, Scottish fare steps from Royal Dornoch’s first tee. In town, Greens Restaurant is set in a former courthouse and plates a provenance-proud menu of British classics — judges’ benches may be no longer, but this spot still serves with conviction.

Local cafés

Freshly baked loaves, filled-to-the-brim bagels and homemade goodies draw locals like bees to a hive at Milk & Honey. Choco aficionados should make for Cocoa Mountain — a small-scale producer along Castle Street, where truffles and chocolate bars are crafted with sustainable, Scotland-sourced ingredients.

Reviews

Photos Dornoch Station reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this Sutherland stay near Royal Dornoch and unpacked their woods and irons, a full account of their tee-rific break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Dornoch Station in the Scottish Highlands…

North Coast 500 cruisers, cut the engines. For we’ve found you — dare we say — the perfect pitstop, and it’s right off the storied route itself. Whether you’re refuelling en route, or staying a little longer, Dornoch Station is set to have you falling fast for this pastoral pocket of the Highlands.

Resting along the northern edge of its namesake village, this retreat was once Sutherland’s central train depot. Now, remains of its railroad heyday are scarce, but its ambling proximity to firth-feathered beaches, mountainous trails and Royal Dornoch Golf Club make it as active a hub as ever. 

Putters have their pick of the links, with club rentals and tee times available at reception. This all-frills service isn’t gated just for golfers, either: staff are on-call for whisky tastings, recommended rambling and cycling routes, and around-town tours, while chefs draw evenings to a swinging close with a hearty taste of this bonny region’s fresh bounty.

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Price per night from $185.20

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