Inside new £5m restaurants and bars at iconic Scots family hotel, including a hidden speakeasy

Scottish Sun

21-04-2025

Interesting artefacts from the archive have been used in the design.
AN ICONIC family hotel has had a massive £5m makeover.
Now bosses say the big budget transformation will really put the destination 'on the map' for food and drink in Scotland.
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Bosses wanted to bring the hotel up to date for a new generation
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The Winter Garden is an airy Victorian heritage space
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EAST is a new Asian small plates concept
And guests can now discover a hidden speakeasy behind a bookcase as part of the major revamp.
Crieff Hydro has completed its bumper dining refurb project, which sees the creation of six new bars and restaurants and refreshed menus for its existing eating spots.
New venues include EAST, an Asian small plates concept, The Ballroom Bar, an elegant day-to-night bar, and The Winter Garden, an airy Victorian heritage space which has been modernised and offers all-day dining.
A new panoramic brunch and afternoon tea destination with views over Strathearn Valley, Loggia has also been introduced.
Menus across all the new restaurants focus on the very best of Scottish produce, with Crieff Hydro's team of chefs working with the long-standing suppliers to bring as much local and regional food to the heart of the menus.
The Ballroom Bar has an impressive oak stained, glass and metal work gantry while a bookcase wall has a hidden door leading to an adults-only speakeasy bar - a completely new concept for the hotel.
And inspiration from some of the new venue designs came from the Crieff Hydro archives, with curios dotted around the new spaces, including historical documents, such as one penny payment stamps, wax seals and old share certificates.
Richard and Charlie Leckie - the sixth generation of the family to be involved at Crieff Hydro - worked alongside Fiona Leckie, the longstanding Head of Interiors, to complete the massive project.
Stephen Leckie, CEO Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels, said: "This is our single biggest project in decades and opens another significant chapter in Crieff Hydro's 157-year history.
"For us, investment large and small is always about creating something better for our guests and for our team here. This is no exception, but the scale of the transformation I believe will really put us on the map for food and drink in Scotland.
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"We're incredibly excited to share these new spaces with our loyal guests and those discovering Crieff Hydro for the first time and we're confident that the variety and style of the new venues will broaden our appeal and create even more memorable experiences for guests staying or dining with us.
"It's fitting that as we look to fulfil the needs of a new generation of Crieff Hydro customers, that this project has been driven by the next generation of my own family.
"We know that our guests are looking for unique experiences, not just any standard hotel restaurant and bar. As an independent business we have more freedom and flexibility to create something really unique.'
Meanwhile, Charlie Leckie, Associate Director Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels, said refurbishing the restaurants and bars was a chance to bring the hotel right up to date.
He added: "Like many of our guests, we enjoy the variety of interesting places to eat and drink around Scotland or further afield. So, we wanted to bring some of the best of that to Crieff Hydro.
"We really believe that a wide choice of food and drink is such an important part of a guest's experience and shouldn't just be 'ok' – it needs to be right up there with what people expect of their favourite West End eateries whether that's in Edinburgh, Glasgow or even London.
"So, we've tried to take the best of all that but deliver it in a way that is uniquely Crieff Hydro and fits in with all the history and tradition we're both so proud of.'
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Loggia is an afternoon tea destination with stunning views