THE VICTORIAN INN

The Fife Arms, Braemar, Scotland

WHEN ART DEALERS Iwan and Manuela Wirth took over the Fife Arms about four years ago, the Scottish hotel had a storied past—but its future was looking a little grim. Built in the village of Braemar in the 1850s to capitalise on the newfound popularity of the Highlands as a tourist destination (thanks to Queen Victoria, an influencer if ever there was one), this formerly grand property had not aged well. Busloads of tourists would stop in for a night at most; thanks to the hotel’s unsightly 20th-century additions, awkwardly carved-up public spaces, and leaky roof, there wasn’t much incentive for them to stay longer. However, in the hands of the Wirths, the Fife Arms has become a place you may never want to leave. I, for one, certainly didn’t.

In a renovation that took two years, the Wirths—

cofounders of the Hauser & Wirth galleries—not only restored but significantly added to the hotel’s original splendour. Where once there were some 90 guest rooms, the Fife now has just 46, ranging from stately suites named after Braemar’s noble visitors (I was in the Duke of Fife) to jewel-boxlike rooms inspired by Scottish crofter’s huts. The now-generous public spaces are peppered with the works of international artists—the walls of the Clunie dining room were hand-painted by Argentina’s Guillermo Kuitca; a Louise Bourgeois spider has taken up residence in the courtyard; and Picasso’s Mousquetaire Assis presides over the drawing room.

Though the period furnishings and artworks look original to the hotel, most—including an ornately carved walnut chimney piece depicting scenes from Robert Burns poems and a drawing of a stag by Queen Victoria herself—were in fact sourced by Russell Sage, the designer behind the Fife’s interiors. “Nothing is there just for decoration,” Iwan Wirth told me over tea in the drawing room, as we gazed up at a ceiling mural by the Chinese artist Zhang Enli that was inspired by ancient Scottish quartz. “Every detail tells a story.”

In lieu of a concierge, a gamekeeper and a gillie, or hunting attendant, are at your service. For me, they planned a day that began with horseback riding at the nearby Glen Tanar estate, followed by lunch at the delightful Rothesay Rooms, a farm-to-table restaurant in the nearby town of Ballater, then a private tour of Braemar Castle.

As I warmed myself by the fire that evening, the edges of my brain beginning to melt from a potent cocktail of local spirits, I felt less like the patron of a high-end hotel and more like a guest at an enchanting country estate. Indeed, the hotel even has its own tartan and tweed—used not only for the staff uniforms but also the custom interiors of the Fife’s fleet of Land Rovers—and an official coat of arms. Its motto: ‘To the summit.’ Doubles from ` 22,490; thefifearms.com.