This article appears as part of the Food Matters newsletter.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to some incredible places for work.

London, Bavaria and the beautiful Isle of Mull to name but a few.

This week, it was Ayrshire.

A winding journey down the A77 in the early morning drizzle may not have seemed quite as glamorous, but the end destination would rival any of the venues I’ve previously managed to blag myself into in the name of a story.

Following a star appearance on Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby, the Glenapp Castle in Ballantrae reportedly experienced a huge boom in bookings, as viewers raced to experience the same impeccable service that had moved presenter Rob Rinder to tears on screen.

Having done a fair bit of Google snooping, the jury was out on whether I would have the same feelings towards the five-star hotel.

Not that there’s much cash to splash in a pre-Christmas bank account, but before Tuesday I had always thought that I would favour a sleek city centre location over an isolated country retreat should my lottery numbers come up.

After a few short hours of getting to know the Glenapp team, that’s no longer the case.

Maybe it was the heady smell of festive pine needles that seemed to permeate throughout the building from a showstopping Christmas tree by the front door, or the open fire that crackled and popped in the lounge area as we were shown in to meet managing director Jill Chalmers.

But something about the place just screams, ‘prepare to be blown away’ from the get-go.

Even for a journalist who was playing voyeur for the afternoon.

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We were first given the rare opportunity to tour the Endeavour Suite which covers the entire top floor of the hotel and has previously been booked out by the likes of Gordon Ramsay.

After a quick prayer that no dirt had clung to our shoes, we stepped onto the thick cream carpets and discovered room after room including a private sauna, a fully equipped kitchen that is overseen by a private butler and a master bedroom (accessed via a spiral staircase, of course) with views across the sea to Ailsa Craig.

Later there was a stop at the hotel’s three AA Rosette dining room, where ladies who lunch sat at white linen clothed tables and ordered champagne to accompany their midday meals without a second thought.

The Herald:
No tears were shed, but if anything was to warrant the same reaction as the TV personalities that had come before us, it would surely have been the first bite of a flourless chocolate cake, painted gold with the lightest of touches and served with a white chocolate ganache.

Apologies for judging you so harshly, Mr Rinder.

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I won’t give away much more for now, as we prepare to publish the full feature going behind the scenes at Glenapp Castle in The Herald and online later this month.

But I hope you’ll enjoy a sneak peek into the inner workings of one of Scotland’s most opulent hotels just as much as I did.

Which, incidentally, was a great deal more than the chilly bus ride home to Glasgow.