15 Glasgow: An address to remember

My photos above will give you some idea of Glasgow’s latest award-winning boutique accommodation but, trust me, they don’t do it justice at all. They don’t show the vastness of the bedrooms, the detail in the tiling at the front door or the exceptional art adorning the walls. You will have to imagine the tranquillity of the setting, the exquisite scent which wafts through the hall as you enter the front door and the warm, relaxed welcome given by the owner as she hands over the keys.

15 Glasgow is unlike any holiday accommodation I have ever visited. This Victorian town-house in the smart Park Area of the city has been sympathetically restored by owners Shane and Laura Mackenzie to create a chic, contemporary B&B, taking care to ensure period details like cornices, shutters and sash windows remain as features. The hotel may be equipped with monsoon showers, flat screen TVs and WiFi yet it oozes prosperity, decadence and a sense of history.

We were staying in two of the five rooms, the Mitchell and the Burrell. The silver and grey tones of the Mitchell were perfectly chosen, the room capacious enough to allow for a lavishly ornate black mirror and super king size bed. The Burrell, with its natural linen palette, de-stressed us as soon as we stepped on its cream carpet and fell back onto the feather and duck down pillows. The other rooms available include the Tower which is a one-bedroomed suite, even bigger than ours, ideal if you are a family with younger children who can share a sofa-bed.

All rooms had tea and coffee making facilities plus, rather than the usual packet of ginger biscuits, foil-wrapped Tunnock’s teacakes which, strangely enough, disappeared within a few moments of arriving.

We were tempted to nip round the corner to buy a bottle of wine, help ourselves to our hosts’ extensive DVD library then turn in for the night but it was Friday so we had booked a taxi to take us out to dinner. We probably could have walked, but we’d had a tiring day and, with there being four of us, it was the equivalent of not much more than a pound each. Coming home afterwards (funny how I have instinctively written ‘home’ there) we let ourselves in and spent a few minutes in the guest sitting room, all of us sighing as we settled into the deep cushions of the fireside sofas. It took some effort to extricate ourselves and wend our way up the stunning staircase to bed.

As the 15 has no guest dining room, breakfast is delivered to each room. I loved that. You could choose anything from fruit and pastries up to the full Scottish. The breakfast was brought up in two courses giving us a few minutes to get a start on the muesli before the big fry up arrived. It was so relaxing to sit at the table in the window of our room and eat in peace.

With access to limited free parking at the back of the hotel and extensive free parking at weekends in the street at the front, this is the ideal place if you’re arriving in Glasgow by car as we did. It’s close to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Hunterian museum and also easy to walk along Sauchiehall Street into the main city centre.

15 Glasgow has the benefits of a B&B in the setting of a luxury apartment. The owners have created a simple model for providing exceptional accommodation. But don’t just take my word for it: if you’re ever in Glasgow, try it for yourself and you’ll never forget it.

We stayed at 15 Glasgow for two nights, courtesy of VisitScotland.


Prices for 15 Glasgow range from £99 to £185 a night for both the Mitchell and Burrell rooms, including breakfast, parking and WiFi.


For more information on holidaying in Scotland go to www.vistscotland.com

VisitScotland’s internationally recognised Quality Assurance scheme is a benchmark for quality and service standards across the tourism industry and operates across accommodation, visitor attractions and food sectors.