We are going to stay in a castle!

I've always had a bit of a fascination with castles, and we have visited many over our years of travel. The best ones are the ones that are authentic and not necessarily restored to "modern" standards.

And I've always wanted to stay overnight in one! But first of all, it's usually prohibitively expensive, and secondly, most of the castles that have been turned into hotels are are more similar to a manor house rather than an actual authentic looking castle.

Yesterday was overcast, cool, and rainy, so we just decided to stay in because today and Wednesday are forecast to be quite nice. So I was perusing the internet and looking at castles in the area that might be worth visiting. And I came across one that really piqued my interest!

Abandoned and derelict Balintore Castle as seen in 2001.

The castle was built around 1860, but by 1960 a lack of maintenance left it full of dry rot and it was left abandoned. As it sat empty for 47 years, it went through several owners, with each one promising to improve it before it was eventually appropriated by council from a Taiwanese businessman and sold to a local who took on the huge, expensive, and ongoing task of restoring the castle.

Several rooms in the castle are currently available for overnight stays... and it's not that expensive! We were able to book for June 25th... the day that we leave our housesit to head to the next one. It's a real coincidence because there aren't many available nights, and it just happened to align with our schedule.

We will be staying in "The Red Room"...

Not a very good quality photo, but obviously we will show you more when we stay!

The cost for the night is £110 ($203 CAD, $148 USD) which isn't far off what an average hotel room costs here in Scotland. But, as the website says ..."please be aware that the building is actively undergoing restoration, so do not book if you expect a completed or pristine luxury hotel."

This sounds more our style anyhow. And by doing so, you get to take part in the restoration process as your room payment goes directly towards the funding of the restoration of this beautiful old building.

So, we're excited about that and really looking forward to it!

Today we have woken up to blue sky and sunshine, so we are headed into downtown Glasgow to have a wander around.

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