St Andrews is golf's spiritual home, and few addresses sit closer to its beating heart than The Old Course. Built in 1968 on the site of the old railway station, the hotel now stands wing to wing with the Old Course's 17th, the Road Hole, where professionals still aim blind over a cluster of replica railway sheds planted in its own garden. Inside, the legacy runs deep: corridors named for golfers long dead, black-and-white photographs of Opens gone by, and a snow cabin spa that feels like nothing else in the home of golf. Cathedral ruins sit on one side, the North Sea on the other. This is proper bucket-list territory and it's fabulous!
/-2.8116119990489006,56.34468402021853,6/600x400?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoidGltYnVrdHV0cmF2ZWwiLCJhIjoiY2poMGw1eHpkMmRkbDJ6bW8xYWZ5OGpjYyJ9.PYvAO7lUJ40SOpGvwmQLqw&attribution=false&logo=false)
The lounges favour worn leather and low lamplight with cabinets of golfing silverware telling a multitude of stories. Dining-wise, there's the Road Hole Restaurant and Swilcan Loft, both glazed from floor to ceiling and staring straight down the 17th and out to the beautiful West Sands. For something less polished, the Jigger Inn (once the stationmaster's cottage) is all about open fires and traditional pub food, while the whisky bar stocks enough single malts to see out a St Andrews winter without repeating yourself.
There are 175 rooms and suites to choose from - and it's a careful one. Course-facing rooms stare straight over the 17th hole to the R&A clubhouse and the sea beyond and are definitely worth the extra spend if the view is the whole point of being here. Every bathroom has a deep soaking tub, some set to chromatherapy mode for a lilac-tinted soak. The Old Course Suites go further, with silk-lined walls and a private galley kitchen, while the Penthouse gets its own lift and a fireplace for chilly Scottish nights.
Golf is the obvious draw, and the hotel's own Duke's Course (all heather and sea views from its hilltop perch) makes a fine substitute when the ballot for the Old Course doesn't go your way. Beyond the fairways, wander St Andrews' roofless cathedral ruins, poke around the castle dungeons, or stride out along West Sands where Chariots of Fire was filmed. If the weather turns (it will), the British Golf Museum is an absorbing way to spend an hour, as are the shops of St Andrew's quaint High Street.
Watching golfers duel with the Road Hole from your window, then trading tweed for a robe at a spa with a snow cabin.
Grab a spot on the Road Hole Bar deck around early evening when the course empties out and the light starts to turns gold.
Being next door to the Old Course doesn't mean you'll play it – tee times go by ballot or pricey advance packages, so it's never a given.
Start with a recommended trip or create one from scratch
The Old Course can be booked with Timbuktu as part of a tailor-made UK trip, rather than as a standalone room reservation. Start online, customising one of our recommended UK trips featuring The Old Course or get advice and suggestions from one of our UK specialists who will design the trip around your dates, check availability and handle every booking for you.
Stays at The Old Course start from around $190, or US$190, per person per night as part of a tailor-made trip. The exact price depends on your travel dates, room type and the shape of the rest of your itinerary. A Timbuktu travel specialist can give you an accurate quote for your dates.
The undisputed Home of Golf and Scotland's oldest university, all within a cobbled square mile.
