Having lived and worked in the local area for generations we wanted to be able to welcome guests to share our special and unique part of Scotland. We all need to escape from time to time and where better than a forest hideaway on a Highland Estate – make it your own for a special break. We recognise that our lodges have a direct and indirect impact on our precious and stunning surroundings so we have done everything we can to reduce any harm to the environment and to wildlife. The philosophy of the lodges is to keep nature in mind with everything that we do and we encourage our guests to do the same by always thinking green-living to create a more sustainable world. There is a big increase in ‘Glamping’ cabins and pods in the last few years but ours is one of the few cabin experiences that takes you to the heart our unique countryside.
Cairngorm Lodges is one of those places on earth where you arrive, take a deep breath and feel extremely lucky to be alive. It is without doubt a very special place where you cannot fail to be aware of the beauty of your surroundings. We encourage you to notice things while you are here – the season, the landscape, the wildlife, even the lichen growing on the trees. We believe our spectacular forest hideaway deserves to be looked after for future guests and future generations. We are only its temporary custodians so we wish to do our best to preserve it and ask that our guests assist us with this responsibility. Therefore our aim is to work in a sustainable way and minimise our environmental impact, but still provide luxury self-catering accommodation for our guests.
With six off grid and cabins welcoming visitors from across the world this is the purest form of bothy life available. The business has been awarded a Gold standard Green Tourism Award since 2015 and works hard to maintain these credentials. Every product or material used in the business is scrutinised for its environmental credentials, from cleaning materials to bed linen. Only local staff are employed as feel the same for the local community as we do our natural surroundings. Everything is recycled or recyclable and energy consumption is kept to a minimum. We are currently in the process of introducing a further 12 cabins due to demand. These have been planned to the same high standards as the originals and will be built to deliver the same feeling of seclusion and tranquillity.
Originally the local council planning department requested that the cabins be located together but having spent so much time in the woodlands ourselves we knew that if we built them close together the experience of immersing into nature would be completely lost. During a visit from the planning department a cheeky red squirrel came to join the meeting at Woodcutters Cabin. Seeing him hang from a tree outside the kitchen window changed everything – the lodges had to be secluded in their own unique setting and wildlife must be undisturbed. We got our way and will forever be grateful to that particular red squirrel!