Scotland

Enhancing Gleneagles

The Club at Gleneagles, Pertshire

Gleneagles is a 5 star luxury golf and spa hotel, set within an 850 acre estate in Perthshire, Scotland.

The world renowned resort is home to three champion golf courses, an award winning spa and is a choice destination for golf enthusiasts as well as those looking for the perfect, picturesque getaway.

This year Gleneagles is the host venue for the prestigious Ryder Cup, the biennial men’s golf competition which most recently took place at the Medinah Country Club, Illinois. Keen to update spa facilities ahead of the big event, Gleneagles recently implemented a refurbishment scheme at The Club – the resort’s stunning leisure facility – designed to bring guests the best possible experience during their stay.

GRAHAM Construction was the main contractor on the refurbishment of The Club, with independent design agency Sedley Place, providing all architectural design services. Design work began in June 2012, with construction beginning in January 2013.

The refurbishment – which reached completion at the end of 2013 – has seen a number of areas of The Club updated; from the main reception through to the pool and changing zones. The update has already proved to be a hit with guests, receiving very positive feedback, and demonstrates Gleneagles’ commitment to ensuring standards remain as high as possible at all times.

The Club at Gleneagles, Pertshire

With such an interesting transformation of the resort’s existing facilities, Premier Hospitality caught up with Mick Nash, the managing director of Sedley Place to find out exactly what has been happening at Gleneagles.

Mick said:

“We have been involved with ongoing design, upgrade and refurbishment projects at Gleneagles for more than 15 years now and the work on The Club is just another element of our continuing involvement. With the Ryder Cup taking place this year this project was perfectly timed to update a few of the facility’s key areas ahead of the event.

“We took part in a pitch process, to look at a couple of options for The Club: to rebuild The Club in its entirety; to refurbish it; or to just smarten it up. During the final analysis, the hotel agreed upon a very comprehensive refurbishment of the existing pool environments and changing areas, so we set about producing a design which we felt would really enhance the visitor experience – which was already great.”

The design incorporates five zones, beginning with a reception area; before moving into a changing environment; a large leisure pool; the adult area; and an outdoor pool.

The Club at Gleneagles, Pertshire

The new reception area provides the perfect place for those wanting to keep dry whilst their friends and family experience the pool and spa facilities of The Club. The reception is a welcoming zone, where parents can keep an eye on their children if they are in the pool; incorporates retail facilities and is great meeting place for friends.

The changing areas are fully equipped, with facilities for showering and grooming. Private changing rooms are available and disabled access has been provided.

Mick said:

“The large leisure pool is based roughly around the area taken up by the previous pool. We completely transformed it, giving it an overhaul to provide a spacious room, with coffered ceilings and LED colour-changing mood lighting. There’s a seamless limestone edge to the pool environment, creating a great transition between the wet and dry areas and an apron around the pool for loungers. There are also features for children, including a bubble pool, a waterfall and bubble jets – a little bit of fun, to hold a child’s attention, without turning the pool area into a theme park.”

The Club at Gleneagles, Pertshire

Mick added:

“Gleneagles prides itself on keeping all of this area at a comfortable temperature. We redesigned a lot of the architectural fabric of the space to thermally insulate the pool room to keep it at a high temperature, without wasting energy.”

The adult area is a more tranquil environment, and the mood is very reflective of this. Here guests can take advantage of the sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi, or simple take time out with a book in a comfortable and relaxing area.

The final aspect of the refurbishment was the installation of the new outdoor pool, which includes a number of enticing therapeutic and massage features. The pool is surrounded by a great landscaping theme, which includes bonsai trees.

Mick commented:

“The new pool has this great ‘swim through’ arrangement, whereby guests start off in the warm water of the indoor pool before going through doors into the outdoor pool.”

The work conducted on the recent refurbishment scheme continues to set a high standard for interior design at Gleneagles and will ensure that guests remain in a relaxing, inviting and inspiring environment at all times.

The Club at Gleneagles, Pertshire

Mick said:

“The interior design is just one of many reasons why people are drawn to Gleneagles. As a business Gleneagles are always looking to develop new reasons for loyal guests to return to the resort and this recent work is just another example of that approach. The resort’s approach is all about rewarding guests with something new and improved upon their return.

“The feedback has been extremely good. The improvements have been welcomed and there’s a sense from guests that these changes have really added to the experience of staying at the hotel. We worked hard to ensure that our work at Gleneagles is significant to the resort’s growth plans, supporting their drive to improve their service and Gleneagles is a client that we are very proud to have on our client list.”

More to explore at Gleneagles

As world famous resort Gleneagles is known for its comfort, luxury and style and this is never more evident than through its collection of 232 luxury bedrooms and 26 suites. Guests can choose between modern or traditional interiors and all bedrooms boast complimentary Wi-Fi.

For those not just content with a night’s stay in a beautiful setting, Gleneagles has a fantastic array of activities, including a good mix of indoor and outdoor pursuits. The resort includes a world famous shooting and fishing school, in addition to an equestrian school and the British School of Falconry. At the British School of Falconry, professional falconers are on hand to teach basic lessons as well as to develop existing skills on the estate.

The Club at Gleneagles, Pertshire

Additional facilities at Gleneagles include the Gundog School, where guests can learn how to handle a trained gundog, and two off-road 4×4 driving courses. A junior off-road course is also available for younger guests, allowing them to get behind the wheel of Land Rover replicas which have been specially built for Gleneagles.

For those less interested in physical pursuits, professional photographer Mike Clifford MPA, SWPP, takes the lead in a wildlife photography course. Guests are driven into the Perthshire hills to capture images of animals in their natural habitat, from birds of prey and red squirrels, to magnificent deer.

Of course no trip to Gleneagles would be complete without a game on one of the estate’s three magnificent golf courses, including the PGA® Centenary Course which is the host venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup. Once a game is complete, guests can also unwind with a visit to The Dormy Clubhouse Bar & Grill, which serves a delicious menu which includes such dishes as Scotch beef steak with suet pudding and grilled lamb kidney and confit duck leg with chestnuts, parsnips and curly kale.

For more information about Gleneagles please: www.gleneagles.com.

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Roma Publications