Opening 1952 Number of suites 2 | Number of rooms 24 Number of restaurants 1 | |
Location Strathkinness Low Road
St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland
KY16 9TX | ||
Rufflets Hotel is a 4 star hotel near St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland.
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Rufflets House 1924–1952
Rufflets House itself was built in 1924 as a private home for Mrs Anne Brydon Gilroy, the widow of a prominent Dundee jute baron, and was designed by Dundee architect Donald Mills. Local records going back as far as 1642 indicate that the land was owned by the Priory of St Andrews as part of the Priory Acres and it was known as the "Ruch (pronounced "ruff") Flets", which in the old Scots tongue, meant "rough, flat lands."
Rufflets Hotel 1952 to date
The hotel was bought George and Margaret Cook and Anna & James Meldrum in 1952 and turned into one of the UK's first country house hotels. The hotel is still in the same family and has been rated by The Automobile Association as one of the top 200 hotels in Britain since 1999.
The hotel has 10 acres (40,000 m2) of grounds and is located 1-mile (1.6 km) from the centre of St Andrews, along the B939 road. The hotel has modern conference hosting facilities.
Awards
Rufflets holds many awards including:
In the press
In August 2006 the hotel's restaurant received press coverage with the launch of cosmeceutical enhanced menu which the restaurant claims contains "ingredients known for their anti-ageing properties to help diners to have longer, more youthful lives".
In February 2008 the hotel became Scotland's first carbon neutral hotel as part of a sustainable tourism drive.
Rufus Bear
Since 1997, Rufflets has had a teddy bear in residence, Rufus. One Rufus per room was used as the equivalent of a Do Not Disturb sign. Once a room was cleaned, guests would return to find Rufus apparently making himself at home amongst their other possessions, for example, sitting at their laptop. The Rufus bears are a favourite of young children staying at the hotel and are available to buy.
Scrapping the Bear controversy
In 2008, Rufflets were advised that Rufus was not in keeping with the image of a modern hotel and recommended that he be scrapped. The hotel placed a poll on their website to determine if guests agreed.
The news of Rufus' possible sacking produced an overwhelming backlash in favour of keeping the Bear. The website poll showed an overwhelming 96% were in favour of Rufus staying. The hotel have published several photos, sent in by guests, of Rufus apparently on tour around the world as well as a series of comments from users in support of Rufus. The affair has even provoked the creation of a Facebook Group called 'Save Rufflets' Rufus Bear'.