The Gordon Guest House

20/04/2023

Hearing great things about the new from guests who tried them out yesterday. The new must-visit MTB local attraction. Check out tarland-trails.com

03/10/2022

We appear to have some new wildlife in the garden. We've been pigged for Ballater's Playpark Improvement Group! Happy to host Porky and his two weans!

09/09/2022

Very difficult to be so close and not be deeply affected by the events of yesterday.

Our sincere condolences from all at The Gordon Guest House.

25/01/2022

We really do get some wonderful sunsets during winter. This is looking to Lochnagar from our breakfast room.

06/09/2021

Ballater's first Mountain Bike festival is this weekend! Why not combine it with watching the Tour of Britain cycle race which passes through the village around 12.30 on Sunday?

A three-day mountain biking festival will take place in Ballater later this month which organisers hope will make the region a "world-class destination

28/04/2021

And finally on the A-Z we have reached Z. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed our run through 26 different aspects of The Gordon giving you ideas of what to do and what to expect from a stay here in the house, in the village and in the wider area. We hope you have been inspired to come and enjoy Aberdeenshire, the eastern Cairngorms and Royal Deeside. The Gordon is now fully woken up and ready to welcome our first guests tomorrow so thank you for coming on this journey with us and see you at The Gordon soon!

Oh… and it’s Z for ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz as you fall asleep on our 400 count Egyptian Cotton bedlinen and dream of the wonderful things you’ve done that day.

28/04/2021

On our A-Z we’ve arrived at Y for YTHAN ESTUARY. After the Dee and the Don the next river mouth you meet going north from Aberdeen is that of the river Ythan. The Ythan estuary is a well renowned birdwatching spot in the area which has turned up many excellent and rare birds over the years. A regular visitor has been “Elvis” a drake King Eider who has spent several summers here instead of the more normal high Arctic territory for this species.

Aberdeenshire has a superb reputation for birdwatching from the Puffins and Gannets of the coastal cliffs to the Golden Eagles and Ospreys of the mountainous west. We can provide lots of tips on how to get the most out of a birdwatching holiday in the area as well as some local “gen” on what’s about. Almost everywhere you stop there will be something of interest such as this fine Wheatear spotted in a coastal stubble field.

Even if your interest is more passive you’ll find a pair of binoculars in every bedroom along with a Scottish Bird field guide to help you identify what flying around on the hill tops from your bedroom window.

We’re also members of several nature charities and on the bookshelves you’ll find the latest editions of magazines from the RSPB, Scottish Ornithologist’s Club, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland.

27/04/2021

Our second letter on the A-Z today is X for X-FACTOR and it’s what we are aiming to have – that something special, a bit different. We want your holiday to be very special, in fact we don’t want you to have a holiday at all, we want you to have an experience. There are so many experiences to be had in this area and we’ve been on holiday here a lot over the years so we’re going to do our best to recommend the best hills to climb, stones to see, castles to visit, spots to watch nature and many other things to do to make your stay completely memorable.

As you’ve probably gathered already an experience for us is getting up close and personal with nature and you can see here some past close encounters with the local fauna – two of the best anglers I’ve seen, and one of the main target species for people visiting us. You can also see our friend Sophie being completely dwarfed by the amazing Vat just a few miles outside Ballater.

We wonder what will your eXperience be?

27/04/2021

Today on our A-Z of waking up The Gordon we’ve reached W for WATER. Yesterday we saw how Ballater was born after the local spa waters were found to have healing properties, and of course the River Dee which flows through the village and gives the area its identity.

In the guesthouse we’re going to be serving Deeside Water, still bottled at Pannanich Wells just a mile outside the village as it has been since 1760 – it tastes sensational. Buying local, or indeed hyper-local, is part of our drive to be very careful about where we source our ingredients from – minimising food miles as much as possible, promoting welfare and supporting other local businesses.

As well as the water from Deeside Mineral Water we’re also going to be bringing you superb fresh fruit and farm fresh eggs from Deeside Deli & Garden Shop opposite The Gordon in Ballater; responsibly sourced flavour-rich coffee beans roasted in the village by Roaring Stag Coffee Roasters; the most wonderful local cheeses from Cambus O'May Cheese a mile up the road; and locally sourced delicious meats from Braemar Butcher 15 miles away in Braemar – often served by their very own , Gareth! The smoked salmon we are using comes to us from Orkney and is RSPCA assured.

26/04/2021

Our second letter today for our A-Z is V for VILLAGE and a short history of Ballater, the beautiful Royal Deeside village our guesthouse is located in. In the 1740s the spa waters of nearby Pannanich were reported to be an effective cure for the King’s Evil (scrofula). Soon visitors were pouring into the area and by 1800 the village of Ballater was being developed. In 1848 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became associated with nearby Balmoral and soon Ballater was booming with tourists and expanding rapidly. The railway arrived in 1866 which made the 50 mile trip from Aberdeen even easier.

Today the village is home to around 1600 residents and the heart of the village is still centred around the stylish mid to late Victorian era granite buildings. Chain stores are absent from the village, instead independent retailers provide all the services both residents and visitors need. Many of the shops hold Royal warrants as they provide services to both Balmoral and Birkhall. The bridge at the south end of the village is the third crossing of the river Dee at this point after the original ferries proved wholly inadequate to reach the Pannanich spa on the opposite bank, it provides a superb vantage point to view the Dee valley.

26/04/2021

On our A-Z of waking up The Gordon we’ve now reached U for UNCLE COLM, the affectionate name for our 1969 Morris 1800 "Landcrab" classic car. We love our classic motoring at The Gordon and are one of only a very few accommodation providers in the region to have been awarded Visit Scotland’s Classic Cars Welcome badge. This means we have available tools, expertise and guides to help any overnighting classic car owners get maximum enjoyment from their stay in the area. Over the summer you may spot us touring around the local area in Uncle Colm enjoying the more relaxed pace of driving he affords us. When not in use you’ll find Uncle parked at our gate in Station Square beside his friend Haggis our sculptured wooden coo.

25/04/2021

On our A-Z of waking up our guesthouse we’ve reached T for TRAINS. Yesterday we talked about the historic railway station in Ballater and the Royal Train. The line to Ballater was just one of many branch lines crisscrossing Aberdeenshire carrying grain to distilleries and spirits back again, or fresh fish from the port towns for example. Most of the railways are now closed but we’re fortunate that sections of these have survived as heritage railways. Whether you are into steam or diesel there’s something for everyone with superb working railways including

Strathspey Railway Strathspey Steam Railway
Keith & Dufftown Railway Keith & Dufftown Railway Association
Alford Valley Railway Alford Valley Community Railway
Royal Deeside Railway Milton of Crathes Station
Caledonian Railway Caledonian Railway

There’s also a railway museum in Maud between Aberdeen and Fraserburgh. We’ll have up to date opening and timetables available at The Gordon for you and would be happy to put together an itinerary to help you visit them all.