Latest news with #KimMurray
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Anyone for gardening? Just don't ask former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray!
Andy Murray and wife Kim have opened up about their love for gardening – although the retired tennis ace has admitted he is hopeless at it. The couple invited gardening supremo Monty Don to their luxury hotel Cromlix, in Dunblane, Perthshire, for a look and explained the work around the property has been inspired by Kim's own love for flowers and plant. But Sir Andy confessed: 'I'm definitely not green fingered and actually I don't even know what that means either. 'I'm assuming it is a gardening term that I should know.' The father-of-four left his wife in stitches with the comments but she later told Mr Don on BBC Gardners' World she aims to get him into gardening having just planted 6,000 tulips around their own estate. She added: 'He was not into art but I got him into art. 'And he noticed my tulips this year. 'Andy has more time in his hands now and he has a very curious mind so I think one day he'll get into it.' Mrs Murray said she was first invited to the Royal Chelsea Flower Show in 2013 when a hosta was named after her husband. She said: 'I was very excited to visit and I received a hosta named Andy Murray and I brought it home and I took great pride in planting it out and it got absolutely decimated by slugs really rapidly.' However, since then she has manged to oversee a kitchen garden at Cromlix which produces cut flowers for the house and ingredients for the kitchen and the bar.
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Andy Murray's Cromlix wins big at 'hotel Oscars'
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It is a beautiful sunny evening when we visit Cromlix, the five-star luxury hotel in Dunblane that is owned by Andy and Kim Murray. Before dinner in The Glasshouse, we have a refreshing gin cocktail in the garden. It's the kind of evening where a location - and grounds - such as this come into its own. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The colourful array of potted tulips, bobbing in the breeze as the sun sets, showcases more than just decoration. They are part of a wider sustainability drive to use only home-grown flowers in the hotel. Head gardener Kathy Beckett is also working closely on the kitchen garden with new executive head chef James Mearing, who moved to Scotland from his role as executive chef at the three AA Rosette Summer Lodge Country House Hotel and Restaurant in Evershot, Dorset. Cromlix exterior | Contributed These culinary and horticultural changes are the seasoning to another huge change that is coming to Cromlix. The team submitted plans in October last year for a new restaurant and kitchen and three new bedrooms, with the proposal now approved. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This means that a new 80-cover restaurant will replace the hotel's existing dining space, The Glasshouse, and will be an extension to the existing footprint of the Victorian mansion, sitting in a new location overlooking the hotel's extensive back lawn. The Glasshouse will remain a dining space, but will be used mainly for afternoon teas and private events. A new fine dining restaurant space is also in the pipeline where the garden room private dining space is. General manager Barry Makin explained this new space, saying: 'There will be 16 covers and we can really push the boat out and let the chef loose, if you like, with his artistic culinary skills.' Cromlix Afternoon Tea | Contributed Three new ground-floor bedrooms will also be created within the main building, converting kitchen space into an accessible suite and two cottage rooms. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad An additional bedroom is also being added onto the first floor, meaning that in total the main house will go from 15 bedrooms to 19, with a further bedroom in the Gate Lodge. All of this comes after an extensive refurbishment in 2023, a project overseen by Kim Murray, which saw the renovation of all of the bedrooms and bathrooms, the creation of a new bar area and entrance, and the upgrading of the restaurant and all other common areas of the hotel. The new Cromlix restaurant render | contributed The refurbishment has led to the hotel winning AA Scottish Hotel of the Year, Independent Hotel of the Year and Chef of the Year at the Scottish Excellence Awards. Earlier this month Cromlix was awarded best boutique hotel and best historic hotel at the 'Hotel Oscars', the Innis and Gunn Prestige Hotel Awards. The venue was also awarded a Michelin Key in late 2024 , one of 15 Scottish hotels to receive the new accolade and one the team hope may entice Michelin Star inspectors to their new restaurant. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Makin said: 'We're very much on Michelin's radar [after having been awarded a Michelin Key] and they'll be coming every year to inspect us. When we have this restaurant [The Glasshouse], which is all things to all men. It's very hard to get the level and consistency to deliver the Michelin experience. 'But not everyone wants that when they come here, so we kind of have to be a bit of a hybrid at the moment. But what we will have is the [new] larger restaurant, which will be more relaxed. But if you really want to come for a fine-dining experience, then the 16-seat restaurant is more at that level. 'Our aspiration is to have Michelin-standard food without question. That is why we are putting on the fine dining restaurant. 'The space works well at the moment as a private dining space, so for us to take that away four days a week, and put in a fine dining restaurant, we have to make sure that it's special - four rosettes, Michelin-standard special. I'd like to think we can achieve four rosettes in that space [given the restaurant has 3 AA rosettes at the moment].' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for what will be on the menu? Anyone who has visited Cromlix for dinner will know there is a seasonal tasting menu and a la carte offering. Mr Mearing is putting his stamp on things with dishes such as salt aged St Bride's duck, cured Mowi Scottish salmon and duo of rabbit, with vegetarian options available. But when it comes to the new fine dining offering, Mr Mearing said he wants to 'really strike a difference'. He said: 'There will be whole new concepts as well as menus. If guests are staying with us for multiple nights, we really want them to have different dining experiences each night. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Our ambition is to really capture the connection between the estate , the garden and the kitchen. The big thing for me in my cooking is trying to be ultra seasonal and local and you can't get any more local than what's been grown and foraged from the garden.'
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Sir Andy Murray eyes up another accolade... a Michelin star for his luxury Cromlix experience
As Scotland's most successful tennis player, Andy Murray is used to serving up a treat for fans. Now the former two-time Wimbledon Champion and Olympic gold medallist has his eyes fixed on another prestigious accolade to add to his collection. The 38-year-old and wife Kim, 37, are aiming for a Michelin star, 12 years after buying Cromlix Hotel in his hometown of Dunblane, Perthshire, for a reported £2million. It comes after the luxury 5-star Victorian hotel, built in 1874, picked up titles for Best Boutique Hotel and Best Historic Hotel in the highly regarded Innis and Gunn Prestige Hotel Awards earlier this month. The venue has just 15 rooms and suites, all individually decorated and costing upwards from £335 a night, as well as a self-contained Gatehouse Lodge. According to the hotel's website Mrs Murray is the 'creative force behind the venture, and takes an active role in shaping the Cromlix experience'. Her input helped secure the hotel an inaugural Michelin Key, an accolade recognising the finest hotels in the Michelin Guide's selection, last year. In an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper, Mrs Murray said it was 'amazing' to be awarded the accolade as soon as it launched last October. She said: 'It's a reflection of what we are doing here at Cromlix. 'It exciting to know that we're now on Michelin's radar, they are aware of us, and we will be getting visited by the Michelin Guide inspectors every year.' And with plans to transform it into a culinary destination following the appointment of James Mearing as executive head chef in February they are now aiming for Michelin star status. Mrs Murray said: 'Chef James's food is incredible. I didn't used to like salmon, but he has totally converted me with the way he cooks it. He made two dishes for us when we were looking at him as our new chef, and really, his is exceptional food. 'For Andy, food used to be functional when he was playing, but now it's more indulgent, light and delicious.' Included in the latest development for the hotel is a new 80-cover glass-fronted restaurant and state-of-the-art kitchen alongside a fine-dining restaurant with 16 tables. Sir Andy told the publication: 'A good hotel restaurant is so important - it's one of the things I learnt when I was travelling on the tennis Tour. 'The food at Cromlix has always been great in my opinion. But I know Kim and the team are making some changes next year which will make it even better.' The retired tennis ace has proven he's no master of the kitchen after appearing alongside Dame Mary Berry for her Christmas special in 2023. She was left decidedly unimpressed to learn his 'signature dish' was eggy bagles and gave him extremely basic tasks as she knocked up a smoked haddock kedgeree.
