Mill Lane, Pitlochry, Perthshire. PH16 5BH.
Tucked away behind busting Pitlochry's main street, this inn really is an old mill and one with a working waterwheel splashing away beside the immaculate floral displays and, on sunny days, busy terrace and decking areas of seating. Teas, coffees, snacks and meals on the go most of the time and the Old Mill Inn is quite the busting, happy place.
The quaint exterior belies the contemporary and stylish, high-calibre accommodation offered inside. Indeed, the Deluxe Mill Rooms are luxurious and richly provided with high-tech extras such as iPod docks and big TVs, plush with quality fabrics, designer bathrooms with underfloor heating, monsoon showers and superior Scottish toiletries. Standard rooms are also delightfully well designed and presented. Three further rooms are being restyled this season such has been the success of the inn's 'new look'. So – there's much to recommend on the accommodation side of things: it's both romantic and relaxed.
The owning family – much experienced in hospitality - also run the acclaimed Victoria's Restaurant in the town so are working hard, since acquiring the inn in 2013, to raise standards of cuisine and restaurant décor: indeed, they have done so well already that the Old Mill Inn won our Scottish Inn of the Year 2014 title.