THE MOUNTVIEW HOTEL – your perfect birding base!

Our ‘Scottish Highland’ holidays are based at our own property, The Mountview Hotel, a 3-star Edwardian Country House Hotel in the charming village of Nethy Bridge, in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. The Mountview is certainly well named; the peak of Cairn Gorm can be seen from our front door, and glorious views of three ranges extend many miles across the Cairngorms, Monadhliaths, and the four Kincardine peaks. The ancient Caledonian Forest begins behind the Hotel, and the River Nethy is just 200 metres away.

The Mountview is set in two acres of attractive grounds featuring native Scots Pine and Silver Birch. Guests are welcome to explore, and in season you will find blaeberry and chanterelle. Our busy bird feeding station attracts Crested Tit, Siskin, Redpoll, Goldfinch and our local Red Squirrel population, and our wildflower meadow holds Moonwort and Northern Marsh Orchid. You are also welcome to view our highly productive kitchen garden, which provides our table with seasonal herbs, salad greens and vegetables.

From the moment you arrive you will be made to feel at home. Inviting public rooms include a welcoming lounge with deep seated, comfortable sofas and open log fire; a peaceful reading room stocked with natural history books and magazines; a private residents’ dining room with fresh flowers and a wellstocked restaurant bar with glorious mountain views. Guests enjoy attractive en-suite bedrooms with comfortable beds, crisp white linen and fluffy towels, Freeview TV, hairdryers and a hospitality tray. WIFI is free of charge. Good company, perhaps with your choice from a well-stocked bar, is an important feature of evenings after dinner. Above all, when birding is over for the day, we have attentive staff who take care and really make you welcome. Non-birding guests are welcome.

Our award-winning kitchen team is led by Caryl and highly skilled Head Chef Ettienne Els. Expect a wide selection of fresh Scottish produce, bought locally where possible, and prepared with skill and imagination by highly trained chefs. If you have special dietary needs, we cater personally for you and offer imaginative vegetarian and vegan dishes. Dinner is usually at 7pm, allowing time to relax after an exhilarating day in the field, and our groups eat together in our Residents’ Dining Room. You can expect a variety of traditional food, full of flavour and offering a delicious taste of Scotland. To accompany your meal, our Wine List offers high quality wines, and you can also choose from a wide selection of local beers, malts, other spirits (try our range of Scottish gins!) and soft drinks.

Many of our birding friends join us for dinner here, especially either side of a SCOTTISH ISLAND holiday. Non-residents/guests are welcome to join you for dinner.

Our kitchen is a hive of activity, and we pride ourselves on the artisanal nature of our menus. We make all our own jams and jellies, source soft fruit from local farms, handpick blackberries, chanterelle, porcini, and blewits in local woodland, and choose just the right fruit for our preserves. Strawberry, damson, worcesterberry, rhubarb and ginger, rowan jelly, apple jelly, marmalade and lemon curd are just a selection!

Over the years our list of home bakes has become extensive. Along with our renowned flapjacks and shortbreads, we also make banana bread, ginger cake, fruit cake, carrot cake and many different sponge cakes. Baskets of homemade bread and rolls accompany dinner, and these may include buttery brioche, wholemeal plaited bread, Italian-style ciabatta, spelt bread, pain brie, granary rolls, bath buns or ale bread.

As part of our policy of using the best, freshest produce, we manage our own vegetable garden, where produce is grown according to organic principles. Our garden provides most of our herbs, and almost everything in summer has a flavour from our garden. Expect a selection from mange-tout peas, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, Swiss chard, courgettes, garlic, pak choi cabbage, beetroot, broccoli, potatoes, curly kale, lovage, tarragon, thyme, fennel, dill, landcress, rocket, sage, lemon balm, ginger mint, applemint, spearmint, and cos, curly endive, freckles, lollo rosso, green salad bowl and red salad bowl lettuces. Our own Kitchen Garden reduces food miles and our salads and vegetables taste great too!