Best Hotels in St Andrews, Scotland: A Local’s Guide to Where to Stay

If you’re trying to figure out the best hotels in St Andrews, Scotland, this guide covers all of it: splurge-worthy stays on the Old Course, boutique hotels in the town center, and apartment or house rentals for groups, based on four years of actually living there as a student. I’ll walk through what each one is actually like, what it’s near, and where booking through a travel advisor gets you real perks like room upgrades and resort credit at no extra cost.

But first, who even am I to be telling you all of this?

I lived in St Andrews for four years, and the famous Old Course Hotel sits just outside the main stretch of town, so it was never somewhere I passed on my way to class or the library. But I went once, for afternoon tea on my birthday in third year, and I remember feeling INCREDIBLY fancy about it.

Most of my other memories of that stretch of town are from the Dunhill Links pro-am every October, when the golf courses fill up with a strange mix of professional golfers and celebrities who’ve decided to try their hand at it for a week, and the whole town gets a little starstruck watching people who are very clearly not professional golfers attempt to be professional golfers.

I’m telling you this because I want to be upfront about where I’m writing from before I get into the best hotels in St Andrews: I know this town as someone who lived in it on a student budget, not as someone who flew in for four nights. I studied at the University of St Andrews, I know which streets flood, I know which hotel bars are actually worth a drink versus just a photo, and I now work as a travel advisor certified through Fora, which means I can also get you real perks at some of the properties below (like room upgrades, resort credit, breakfast included) at no extra cost to you. I’ll flag which ones those are as we go.

Read my complete guide to St Andrews here.

Where is the best place to stay in St Andrews?

St Andrews itself is small. You can walk from one end of town to the other in about twenty-five minutes, and most of what people come for (the Old Course, the Cathedral ruins, the university, West Sands beach) sits inside that walkable core.

So the real question isn’t just “what are the best hotels in St Andrews,” or “what street should I stay on”. It’s “what kind of trip is this,” because that changes the answer more than location does. A golf pilgrimage, a weekend visiting your kid at uni, a base for exploring the wider Fife coast, and a proper splurge trip all point toward different hotels on this list, even though they’re all within a mile of each other. Once you know what kind of experience you’re looking to have, your choice will be that much easier—and that’s exactly what this guide is built to help you do.

Luxury Hotels in St Andrews: Staying On (or Near) the Old Course

If your trip is built around golf, or you just want to wake up looking at the 18th hole, this is your section. These are also the properties where booking through an advisor actually gets you something concrete, so I’ll note the perks as I go.

Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa

This is THE hotel — the one everyone means when they say “the hotel by the Old Course.” It borders the Road Hole, the famously brutal 17th, and the views from the Road Hole Bar are the real thing, not a marketing photo. It’s AA Five Star, 144 rooms including 35 suites, and French designer Jacques Garcia did a lot of the suite interiors, which shows up as a sort of maximalist, tartan-adjacent glamour that either works for you or doesn’t.

For a lot of people planning a St Andrews trip, this hotel isn’t really a decision — it’s the point of the trip. If you want to wake up, look out the window, and see the most famous golf hole in the world, there’s no substitute for actually being here.

Breakfast at Swilcan, the main restaurant, gets pulled out by name in review after review. The spa is the other consistent standout: clean, well-run, and exactly what you want after a round or a long walk on West Sands.

I’ll flag one thing so you’re not surprised by it: the Jigger Inn (the hotel’s more casual pub, set in a converted railway signal box) and the Road Hole Bar can get slow during busy golf weeks when tournament guests are getting priority — a 20-minute wait for a drink isn’t unusual. Worth knowing, but not worth avoiding the hotel over.

Book through me and you’re looking at a room upgrade on arrival (subject to availability), daily full breakfast for two per bedroom, a $100 resort credit, and early check-in/late check-out, plus a welcome amenity if you’re in a Deluxe Suite or higher. None of that costs you anything extra; it’s just what comes with booking the right way.

Rusacks St Andrews

Rusacks opened in 1887 as the Marine Hotel (one of the first purpose-built golf hotels anywhere in the world) and it was requisitioned for army conferences in one World War and used as an army barracks in the next, which is the kind of history you don’t get from a hotel built in the last decade.

It sits closer to the 18th hole than the Old Course Hotel does (directly over both the 1st and 18th greens) and a 2021 renovation added rooms without losing the Highland-lodge feel (think tartan carpet, wood paneling, and a wall of golf portraits in the library that make it clear exactly what this hotel is about).

There are three places to eat and drink on-site, and each has its own personality:

• 18, the rooftop restaurant, has the only dining room in the world that looks directly down onto the 18th green, and it’s worth booking a table there even if you’re not staying at the hotel.
• The Bridge does Mediterranean-leaning food with views of the Swilcan Bridge itself.
• One Under, the basement bar, is small, a little hidden, and exactly where you want to end up for a nightcap.

If you’re the kind of person who wants to be able to say you had a drink where Old Tom Morris and Bobby Jones once walked past the window, this is your hotel.

Seaton House

Seaton House sits on The Scores (arguably St Andrews’ most striking street, running along the clifftop past the Castle ruins) in a pair of Georgian townhouses dating back to 1864. It was formerly known as The Scores Hotel before a full restoration brought back the original name.

It’s part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, sitting near the first tee of the Old Course with views over West Sands.

The real draw now is Ondine Oyster & Grill, which moved here in 2025 after chef Roy Brett closed his long-running Edinburgh seafood restaurant of the same name.

In addition to they oyster bar where you can watch the shucking happen, there’s Old Tom’s Bar (named for the St Andrews golfing legend Old Tom Morris) and Bow Butts, a whisky-forward bar that’s become popular with locals as well as guests, which is always a good sign for a hotel restaurant.

The 24-hour concierge and fitness center round it out for anyone whose schedule doesn’t cooperate with normal hotel hours.

Book with me here and you’ll get a $50-$100 credit toward food, drink, or spa; continental breakfast for two; a room upgrade at check-in when available; and flexibility on check-in and check-out timing.

Fairmont St Andrews: Is It Worth Staying Outside Town?

The Fairmont is the big building you see on the horizon when you’re looking south from town, and it throws off a lot of people trying to figure out where to stay, so let’s settle it: it is not in St Andrews. It’s about a ten-minute drive out, on 520 acres, with two 18-hole championship courses of its own (the Kittocks, with coastline views, and the Torrance, set further inland) plus a 16-meter indoor pool and five restaurants.

The hotel runs a complimentary shuttle into town, and, depending who you ask, that’s either a nice bit of separation from the tourist crush or an extra step between you and your bed. When I lived there, the Fairmont felt like an entirely different country. Students didn’t really go, because there wasn’t a reason to unless you were meeting someone staying there.

If your trip is entirely golf-and-spa focused and you don’t need to be in walking distance of the Cathedral ruins or the shops on Market Street, the space and the two courses are a real draw. If you want to walk out your door into the actual town, book in St Andrews proper instead.

Book with me and you’ll get daily breakfast for two, a VIP welcome, a $100 on-property credit, and upgrade/early check-in/late check-out when available.

Best Hotels in St Andrews for Food and Dining

If you’re weighing the best hotels in St Andrews by what’s on the plate rather than what’s on the golf course, these two are where I’d point you. Both put dining and grounds at the center of the experience, which makes them a good fit if you’re building the trip around food, or if you’re traveling with someone who doesn’t golf and needs their own reason to be excited.

Hotel du Vin & Bistro St Andrews

Twenty-two rooms, which keeps it feeling more like a proper small hotel than a resort, with a French bistro on-site (Bistro du Vin) doing breakfast through dinner. It’s tucked just off the west end of town, close enough to the Old Course that you can walk to the first tee in a few minutes, without feeling like you’re staying inside a golf resort.

I had afternoon tea here once too, and it was excellent — a smaller, quieter room than at the Old Course Hotel, and the kind of service that pays attention without hovering. Guests consistently point to the breakfast quality and the restaurant’s food and atmosphere, and the location near the beach comes up again and again in reviews. It’s a good fit if you want a hotel that still feels personal-sized.

Rufflets St Andrews

Rufflets sits beside formal terraced gardens with a 2 AA Rosette restaurant that follows what they call a “Chef and The Gardener” approach, meaning a real amount of what’s on your plate came out of the kitchen garden on-site, not a supplier truck.

It’s set back enough from the center of town that it actually feels like you’ve gotten away from the hustle and bustle, which is rare for a hotel this close to St Andrews. It’s about a 30-minute walk from the town center (just past David Russell Apartments, where I lived my first year, so I’ve made that walk more times than I can count) which is doable if you’re up for it, but a car or a willingness to call a taxi makes it a lot easier.

There’s also a dedicated yoga studio across the gardens for small-group sessions, which is a nice option if your idea of a good trip includes actually moving your body and not just walking to restaurants (relatable).

Midrange and Boutique Hotels in St Andrews

If you asked me for the best hotels in St Andrews for a friend visiting on a normal budget, not a golf-trip budget, this is the section I’d point them to: smaller properties, walkable to everything, and without the resort price tag.

Kinnettles Hotel and Spa

Kinnettles sits right on North Street in a converted stone townhouse turned into a nine-suite boutique hotel with the kind of cosy-but-not-fussy feel that makes it a popular pick for anniversaries and birthday trips.

It’s about a ten-minute walk from the Old Course and nine minutes from the Cathedral and Castle, so it splits the difference between golf-trip and town-trip nicely, and being right on North Street means you’re steps from the university buildings too.

The ESPA spa is small but well-reviewed (guests consistently describe it as a genuine highlight rather than an afterthought amenity), and the restaurant, Haar, builds its menu around Scottish produce. It’s the kind of place where the staff learn your name by day two.

The Albany Hotel

The Albany is actually two Georgian townhouses built in 1764 by a father, Thomas Low, for his two sons. It sits directly across from the university on North Street, five minutes from the Cathedral, and it’s where I’d point anyone who wants a whisky by an open fire after a day of walking around town.

5 Pilmour Place

Five Pilmour Place (sometimes written 5 Pilmour Place, or No5 Pilmour by The Dunvegan) is a seven-room guesthouse tucked in between the Dunvegan Hotel and the Pilmour Hotel, just 75 yards from the 18th green.

If you want golf-course proximity without a resort price tag, or you just like the idea of a full cooked-to-order breakfast, this is worth a look.

Apartments and Vacation Rentals in St Andrews

If you’re traveling as a group, staying longer than a few nights, or just prefer having your own kitchen, a rental is usually the better value than a hotel room in St Andrews.

No1. Apartments St Andrews – South Street

No1. Apartments sits in a historic South Street building that’s been fully modernized inside — the kind of place where guests specifically mention the blend of old character and new comfort, because the bones of the building haven’t been stripped out to make room for the renovation.

It’s a two-minute walk from the Hamish McHamish statue (Hamish was a ginger cat who had the run of the town for over a decade and has his own bronze memorial on Church Street), and everything else (the university, the golf shops, bars on South Street itself, etc.) is close enough that a car never enters the conversation.

It’s the pick if you want a flat that feels like a proper stay rather than a hotel room with a kitchenette bolted on.

Andrean House

Andrean House is part of a small collection of luxury self-catering properties on Murray Park, about five minutes’ walk from the first tee.

It’s a five-bedroom, fully renovated townhouse with an open-plan kitchen and lounge downstairs and sliding doors out to a garden terrace, which ends up being where most groups actually spend their evenings with a quiet drink outside.

The layout is built for exactly the kind of trip that fills most of its reviews: groups of golfers who want somewhere to dry out waterproofs, store clubs without tripping over them in a hallway, and eat a proper meal together instead of splitting up across restaurants every night.

St Andrews Holiday Park

This is the one to consider if you want something genuinely different from a hotel room or a townhouse rental: mobile homes and caravans at a holiday park on the southern edge of town, set above East Sands beach.

It’s run by Abbeyford Leisure, and there’s a real range depending on what you want: Connoisseur and Castaway Sands caravans with sea views, Eden caravans if you want something newer, and lodges with their own private hot tub if you want to make a proper occasion of it. Most units sleep four to six, and there are dog-friendly options across several of the accommodation types.

On-site, The Braes bar and restaurant does burgers and pub classics with a sun terrace looking out over the water, there’s a Papa John’s for delivery straight to your caravan or lodge, and a games room and play park keep kids busy without a trip into town. It’s about a 39-minute walk to the Old Course, or six minutes by car, so this only works if you’re comfortable being slightly outside the main walkable core — but if you want sea air and a slower pace over being steps from the golf course, it’s worth a look.

You can book directly through Abbeyford’s St Andrews Holiday Park website, which lets you filter by accommodation type and see what’s actually available for your dates.

FAQ: Best Hotels in St Andrews

Final Thoughts on Where to Stay in St Andrews, Scotland

That’s my honest rundown of the best hotels in St Andrews, from the splurge-worthy ones to the ones I’d actually book for a friend. If you want help booking any of the perk-eligible properties above — the Old Course Hotel, Seaton House, or the Fairmont — book with me and I’ll handle the details and make sure you actually get the upgrades and credit that come with going through an advisor instead of booking direct.

But that’s really just the start of what I can help with. If you’re planning a whole Scotland trip and not sure how St Andrews fits into it, or you want someone to sort out tee times, day trips to the East Neuk, restaurant reservations, or how to string together St Andrews with Edinburgh and the Highlands without wasting half your vacation in transit, that’s the kind of thing I do for clients regularly — it comes from having actually lived in this country, not just researched it. Reach out and we can figure out what your trip should actually look like, whether or not it involves any of the hotels on this list.

Quick Reference: Best Hotels in St Andrews at a Glance

Property	Type	Near	Advisor Perks Available
Old Course Hotel	Luxury, golf resort	Old Course (Road Hole)	Yes
Rusacks St Andrews	Luxury, golf-focused	18th hole, town center	—
Seaton House	Luxury boutique (SLH)	West Sands, first tee	Yes
Fairmont St Andrews	Luxury resort	10 min. drive from town	Yes
Hotel du Vin & Bistro	Boutique, dining-focused	Beach, town center	—
Rufflets St Andrews	Boutique, dining-focused	Gardens, edge of town	—
Kinnettles Hotel and Spa	Boutique	Old Course, Cathedral	—
The Albany Hotel	Boutique, historic	Cathedral, university	—
5 Pilmour Place	Boutique guesthouse	18th green	—
No1. Apartments South Street	Rental apartment	Town center	—
Andrean House	Rental townhouse (groups)	Old Course, beach	—
St Andrews Holiday Park	Rental, caravan/mobile home	East Sands	—

Read more of my posts about St Andrews:

• St Andrews, Scotland: The Complete Guide (From a Four-Year Local)
• Things to Do in St Andrews, Scotland: 33 Best Options (Not Just Golf)