Burgie House exceeded our and our families' expectations in every dimension. We rented the house for one week for our wedding and had everyone stay with us during that time -- and we all can't wait to go back. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a beautiful, peaceful, and grand escape from the world.
Price: For the price per night of one kinda-fancy hotel room in San Francisco, Burgie House gets you enough space to very comfortably house two dozen people. It's an incredibly deal.
Setting and Accessibility: ~ 50 Minute drive from downtown Inverness, or a bit longer by train to Forres and bus. Both Forres and Elgin (~15 minutes drive away) have tesco superstores with the supplies one might need for the week, as well as a handful of tasty restaurants. The house is situated about equidistant from a cluster of major distilleries, hiking in cairngorms park, hiking at loch ness, and trips into town.
Space: The pictures online make the house appear smaller than it is. Inside, ceilings range from 9 foot to maybe 12 foot. The living rooms are all very large, easily fitting several couches and pieces of furniture. The downstairs pool table is the size of a small swimming pool. The sound insulation is excellent, such that loud music and dancing can take place on one side of the house, and not be heard a couple rooms away. Astounding. Bedroom to bedroom sound insulation is also very good.
Bedrooms and Bathrooms: All were very clean, comfortable (even the twin beds), and fairly spacious, with lovely views of the grounds. Bathrooms have carpet, which is a little odd, but towels are provided to keep it from getting wet.
Grounds: the grounds put one in mind of a feudal kingdom, scattered with several lodges and smaller houses, large crop fields, a gorgeous and huge arboretum, stables for horses and pigs, and a coniferous region. Hiking, running and exploring the property are multi-day activities alone, and offer beautiful views of findhorn bay.
Service/Interactions with hosts. Alec, Polly and Hamish communicated regularly with us and were welcoming and extremely helpful in getting us set up (we needed a couple kid's cots). Maeve was also very helpful and kind. When a member of the family had an urgent health issue requiring a trip to the hospital, the hosts reached out to us to offer a very late check out.