Our final destination on our Scottish adventures was Fort Augustus with the intent of visiting the famous Loch Ness. Our choice of accommodation truly could not have been any better as our spacious, luxury holiday Apartment, Old School 11 was located in the Highland Club at the Fort Augustus Abbey. The Highland Club is located on the shores of Loch Ness and boasts 20 acres of beautiful gardens and unparalleled views of the famous loch. The gorgeous "Category A" listed historical building holds an incredible history as a Abbey where generations of St Benedictine Monks lived and worshipped for many, many years. The Abbey has since been respectfully renovated and converted into luxury holiday apartments. We had a great stay in our luxury apartment where everything we needed for a wonderful self-catering holiday was provided for us.
We were staying in the newly renovated Old School 11 Apartment on the first floor of the Abbey. Our apartment was interestingly also the former maths classroom in the Old School at the Abbey. The combination of its unbeatable location, exciting history, architecture, excellent self-catered facilities and very reasonable prices made it the perfect choice of accommodation to explore Loch Ness and the Highland region from.
Our apartment was spacious and very tastefully decorated with a large open plan lounge, dining and kitchen area. There is a beautiful solid oak dining table and a lounge which contained two very cosy, comfortable couches which we enjoyed relaxing on whilst watching television on the top of the range Panasonic Smart TV of an evening. There is also a blu-ray player and a number of videos provided. We had beautiful views from our large lounge room and bedroom windows which overlooked the Cloisters & internal courtyard of the Abbey as well as providing beautiful views across to the snow covered mountains of the Great Glen. The beautiful, large arched windows also allowed floods of natural light to pour into the apartment which was wonderful. If you are a light sleeper don't worry, because the curtains are lovely and thick and block out the morning light and also help to keep the apartment wonderfully warm and cosy! There was also free, fast Wi-Fi in the apartment which worked great and allowed us to stay connected during our stay.
One of the most important things for us on a self-catered holiday is an excellent, fully equipped kitchen. We love dining out but also love having the option of cooking for ourselves whilst we are on holidays and we were very pleased with the kitchen in our apartment which had beautiful granite benches and modern appliances. Equipped with a dishwasher, fridge and freezer, oven and washing machine, everything we could have possibly wanted or needed was provided including quality utensils, pots, pans and crockery. The apartment was also heated with gas central heating which is included in the rental price and ensured the apartment was toasty warm for us!
We stayed in the Master Bedroom which also had an ensuite bathroom with separate bath and shower. The bed and bedroom furniture were all beautifully made using the highest quality solid oak. Our king size bed extremely comfortable and the high quality linens ensured we had a wonderful sleep. As we were only staying for one night we didn't unpack but there was a huge amount of wardrobe and storage space which is great if you are planning an extended stay! The ensuite bathroom was modern, clean and we had plentiful hot water and great water pressure during our stay. There are plenty of soft, clean towels provided for your stay just be sure to remember to bring your toiletries for your self catered holiday!
The second bedroom is ideal for children with two single beds, again made of beautiful solid oak. There are also a number of toys, games, dolls and books available to utilise during your stay and if you are travelling with kids they will love these wonderful additions which make the apartment feel very much like home. There is also a second modern bathroom adjacent to the second bedroom which has a bath with shower over and toilet. Both bedrooms are very tastefully decorated with light colours, solid oak furniture, beautiful artwork and gorgeous large windows which allow wonderful natural light into the bedrooms.
The Abbey is a beautiful building and there is nothing quite like it in the area. The magnificent building is located within 20 acres of beautifully maintained private grounds at the Southern end of Loch Ness. The beautiful grounds are wonderful to explore and relax in whilst also admiring the architecture of the Abbey and the natural beauty of Loch Ness, which is only moments from the apartment.
The Abbey was originally built in 1876 and is one of the oldest buildings in Fort Augustus and one of the most beautiful buildings we saw in our travels around Loch Ness. For many years the Abbey was also run as a school by the monks until the Monks closed the Abbey due to financial pressures. There have even apparently been sightings of the Loch Ness Monster from the grounds of Fort Augustus Abbey by the monks that lived here and you can't really argue with that!
The Fort Augustus Abbey is a Grade A listed building and has been painstakingly and tastefully renovated and converted into luxurious high quality holiday accommodation and luxury apartments. It is evident the effort that has gone into renovating and converting the Abbey to ensure that the buildings are respected and the historical charm of the Abbey remains. We loved strolling the corridors of the Abbey and marvelling at the incredible architecture of the Cloisters, high ceilings and internal courtyard. The incredible history of the Abbey was evident and it felt very Harry Potter-esque and as if we were staying in Hogwarts (which as a big fan of Harry Potter I loved)!
As a guest of Old School 11, you are able to use all the facilities at the Abbey for free throughout your stay. The Highland Club has extensive facilities including a beautiful heated indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room, small gym, tennis court, barbecues, a giant chess board, table tennis table and full sized snooker table. We made full use of the heated swimming pool and sauna during our stay, which were both modern, spotlessly clean and excellent facilities! Being able to use all the facilities of the Highland Club whilst staying in our self-catered apartment was a huge plus, and something we really enjoyed and know future guests will appreciate too.
The Abbey is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Caledonian Canal, Loch Ness and the Tarff River. It is only a short stroll to Fort Augustus' village where you will find supermarkets, shops, bars, pubs and restaurants and there is also a wonderful restaurant within the groudns of the Abbey which overhands Loch Ness called The Boathouse. Our apartment was ideally located, allowing us to easily explore Loch Ness and the local area, and we'd recommend it as great self-catering holiday accommodation to allow you to explore the Highlands and Loch Ness region. We loved that we could leave our car in our designed parking spot and easily walk around town and along the banks of Loch Ness.
We had a great stay at the Highland Club in our Old School 11 Apartment. We wish we'd had more than one night as it was a gorgeous apartment where we felt at home immediately and we could have spent days exploring and hiking the local area around Loch Ness. If you are visiting Fort Augustus and Loch Ness and looking for an excellent self-catered apartment for your holiday we highly recommend Old School 11 Apartment which has everything you could possibly need for your stay, the perfect location on the shores of Loch Ness and access to the excellent facilities of the beautiful Highland Club! I also loved the fact that it felt as if we were staying in the grounds of Hogwarts in our very own Harry Potter land!
For an elegant, comfortable, value for money stay in an unbeatable location we highly recommend Old School 11 Apartment for your upcoming visit to Loch Ness and Fort Augustus.
Old School 11
Highland Club Scotland
St Benedicts Abbey
Fort Augustus
Inverness-shire
PH32 4BD
01456 486631
www.lochnessholiday.co.uk
Find us: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+ | Bloglovin