8 YOUR WEEKEND THE PRESS AND JOURNALThursday, April 10, 2014

THE PRESS AND JOURNALThursday, April 10, 2014 YOUR WEEKEND 9

Luxury hotel offersCheryl Livingstone follows inthe footsteps of some famousfaces and enjoys a luxury stayat Glasgow’s grand Mar Hall

If it’sgoodenoughforBeyonce, it’s good

enough for me.”That’s what I thought

anyway after reading thatthe superstar had suppos-edly stayed at Mar Hallwhile she was performingat the SECC in Glasgow,just a few weeks before Iwas due to stay there.

My family and friendstold me to be on “celeb-watch” while I was there.But having stayed in MarHall, I honestly couldn’t tellyou if I did see any familiarfaces among my fellowguestsas therewasonestarthat I couldn’t take my eyesoff – the hotel itself!

Formerly Erskine Man-sion, Mar Hall sits amid200 acres of the Earl of MarEstate. Originally startingoff as a stately family home,it later became a hospitalfor injured servicemen.

Nowadays, it is a grandand elegant hotel boasting53 lavishly designed bed-rooms and suites whilemany period features havebeen retained. It hasbreathtaking views overthe River Clyde and alsoboastsaspaandthe18-holeEarl of Mar Golf Course.

Having looked at the ho-tel online, I couldn’t wait tosee the magnificent hotelfor myself. As we made ourwaydownthelongwindingdriveway, Icaughtglimpsesof the building, teasing usuntil the grand reveal. Thefirst look at the hotel, how-ever, is definitely worth thewait. It is an elegant build-ing which complements itsscenic locations beauti-fully.

The grandeur only getsbetter once inside. After be-

ing greeted by friendly andhelpful staff, we made ourway to our bedroom – agorgeous and large spacecomplete with four-posterbed, period fireplace andlarge windows offeringgreat views of the grounds.A stylish bathroom gavethe room a modern touch.

Once refreshed andchanged, we made our wayto the Crystal Restaurant,which meant walkingthrough the grand hallwaywhich is completely jaw-dropping and exquisite.

The restaurant itself wasequally impressive and wasa lovely setting for what wewere to discover would be abrilliant dining experience.We were offered both a setmenu and a la carte withlots of choices on offer.However, being in a largeformer country mansion, Idecided to go rustic andstart with the root veg-etable soupwithblackolivebread ro l l wh i l e myboyfriend chose the Cullens k i n k , a p a r t i c u l a rfavourite of his.

Neither of us were leftd isappointed by ourchoices, especially myboyfriend whose dish wasnot only beautifully put to-gether but also uniquelypresented to him. The dishcame with a free-range softpoached egg and toastedoats, which were on theplate when it was served tohim. Seconds later, thewaiter returned with themain element of the dishandpoureditarounditsac-companiments in front ofus. It definitely gave themeal an interesting start.

For the next course, weboth went for meat choices

– me the Ayrshire breast ofchicken with spring onionmash, seasonal vegetables,tarragon and pancettas a u c e , a n d f o r m yboyfriend, the herb-crustedthree-bone rack of Ayrshirelamb carved on dauphi-noise potatoes, carrotpuree and roasted vinetomatoes.

Chicken can be a partic-

ularly boring choice, but atMar Hall they managed tomake it one of the most en-joyable dishes I’ve had. Themeat was very soft and fullof flavour while the springmashwasanicealternativeto your basic potato. Myboyfriend also enjoyed hislamb which was, in hiswords, “cooked to perfec-tion”.

And despite being prettymuch full, we both man-aged to find space fordessert. I went for thewarm chocolate cake withfruit and vanilla ice creamwhile my boyfriend triedthe mango and marscar-pone cheesecake with sum-mer berry compote andpassion-fruit syrup. Thefact that neither of us cameup for air says it all really.Both desserts were abso-lutely delicious and were agreat end to our culinaryexperience.

We then decided to headinto Glasgow’s city centre,which is one of the manygreat things about MarHall. Although it is a fan-tastic rural retreat and of-fers beautiful countrysideand river views, with themotorway only a short dis-tanceaway,youcanbebackto the bright lights inaround 20 minutes. So wespentSaturdaynightenjoy-ing Glasgow’s legendarynight life beginning ourjourney in the west end’squaint Ashton Lane beforeh e a d i n g o n t o b u s ySauchiehall Street to ex-plore its score of pubs andnightclubs.

Saturday morning got offto a great start with a buffet

breakfast back in theCrystal Restaurant. As wellas traditional Scottishcooked breakfast staples,Mar Hall has a wide rangeof breakfast items, defi-nitely something for every-one. We rounded off ourvisit with a trip to the ho-tel’s spa facilities and awalk around the scenicgrounds.

Our spa treatmentsbegan with a relaxingback, shoulder and neckmassage and finished witha refreshing facial whichleft my skin glowing. Myshoulders also felt more re-laxed and as if they had ac-tually dropped down aninch. It was a great end towhat had been a very relax-ing stay.

best of both worlds

Mar Hall is many things;it is a fantastic country re-treat and it is close enoughto Glasgow to work as a lo-cation foracitybreakorac-commodation for eventssuch as the Common-wealth Games or gigs at thevarious venues. So what-ever you are looking for,Mar Hall will definitelyhave it.

Fact boxMar Hall Golf and SpaResort, Bishopton, nearGlasgow PA7 5NW. Call0141 812 9999. E-mailreservations@marhall.com

Rooms from £195 per nightfor bed and breakfast

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AROUND SCOTLAND

VATTRACTION

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5th to 21stApril

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