Glenapp Castle

Glenapp Castle is a 17-bedroom Relais & Chateaux five-star hotel, tucked away on the breath-taking Ayrshire coast, Scotland. The castle is hidden away in 36 acres of stunning gardens and woodland. Guests find themselves getting lost within the estate, or escaping to the majestic Scottish countryside for long walks and beautiful views of Ailsa Craig and Northern Ireland.

Introducing John McCreadie, Senior Sous Chef

Senior Sous Chef, John McCreadie, is an integral member of the Glenapp Castle chef team. Having worked at the castle for five years, John has risen up quickly from Chef de Partie to become one of the most senior chefs at the hotel. Living nearby in Stranraer, John is passionate about producing high-quality food and using locally sourced ingredients. His influence is intrinsic in the excellent cuisine that Glenapp Castle is renowned for. In particular, his speciality lies with desserts and puddings - his Carrot Cake and Strawberry and Vanilla Panna Cotta are legendary.

The use of our own home-made produce

Glenapp Castle prides itself on using home made and local produce for its freshness and excellent quality that is available in Ayrshire. Our chefs select the very best meats and cheeses from the surrounding local farms and all the fish and shellfish that are bought from the quayside at Girvan are line-caught, or hand-dived off Scotland's west coast. The game also comes from local estates from across Ayrshire. Indeed, the beef, lamb and pork are farmed only 17 miles from the castle. Major investment is continuing on the estate and in the castle gardens and during 2020 and beyond we will see even more produce grown here at Glenapp with plans for even greater sustainability and sometimes quite rare produce grown here in the Castle's gardens.

The wonderful interaction of our kitchen chefs, the garden team and our guests is magical

The chefs work extremely closely with the garden team to create a magical and sustainable menu for our guests. The castle’s 36 acres of gardens and woodlands provide the chefs with many of the ingredients used in the kitchens. The distinctive breakfast preserves are prepared at the hotel from fruit grown in our Victorian Glasshouse and all vegetables that are homegrown in our Walled Garden are delivered fresh, straight from the garden to the kitchens for dinner.

The team is passionate about organic, local produce and sustainability is very much at the heart of our ethos. Last year the hotel’s chefs teamed up with local fishermen to curate a sustainable fishing menu and the castle is now pollinated by our very own Buckfast bees.

The guests really appreciate the home grown produce

We have many loyal guests who return to the castle year-on-year and one of the reasons for their return is our excellent cuisine. Our six course dining menu in particular is a firm guest favourite as it is concocted using a vast majority of ingredients from the estate including fruit, vegetables and herbs coming from the ground’s kitchen garden.