About us

Hello and welcome to the Dowans Hotel in Aberlour. We are the Murray family and we became the proud owners of the Hotel in 2012. December 18th to be precise. We arrived and saw this grand Victorian mansion set in ornate terraced gardens and commanding views of the beautiful Spey Valley below and…well, it was love at first sight! We also knew that the Dowans, like a grand old gentleman, had lost some of its vitality and was looking a little careworn. We immediately set about renovating and upgrading the Hotel, with the help of Chelsea McLaine of Glasgow, and with the ambition of giving to the Dowans all the comforts of the twenty-first century without losing any of the building’s original Victorian charm. Please take a look at the photographs on our website and judge for yourself: we feel sure you will like what you see.

We have sixteen en-suite rooms, ranging from cosy pine furnished singles to eloquently styled king-size doubles. Every room has fresh leaf tea and ground coffee making facilities, a flat-screen television, free Wi-Fi and en-suite bathroom or shower stocked with complimentary toiletries. We have two restaurants, open to both guests and non-residents. ’57’ offers everyday dining of the highest quality, whilst Spé has that extra soupçon of formality and exclusivity for that extra special occasion.

We source all our fresh ingredients locally, preparing seasonal menus that mix traditional Scottish fare with cuisines from around the world. Our bar, however, is pure Highlands: stocked with over one hundred and sixty single malt whiskies, including, for the connoisseur, a seventy year old Macallan and a 1953 Glengrant, and beers from the micro-breweries hereabouts such as Spey Valley, Wind Swept and the Cairngorm Brewery.

Whatever your reason for visiting Speyside – whether you’re here to relax and enjoy the scenery, sightsee the castles and take the ‘Whisky Trail’, walk the mountains, fish the Spey, play some golf, enjoy a romantic weekend away, celebrate a special occasion or entertain your business clients – the Murray family invite you to join us here at the Dowans Hotel and let us make your stay all that you could wish for.