The Leddie Lodge & Restaurant, East Lothian – Evaluation

Positioned within the small Scottish coastal village of Aberlady, boutique resort The Leddie brings recent vitality to a centuries-old teaching inn. Its 27 individually designed bedrooms are matched by assured interiors, heat hospitality and a vacation spot restaurant and bar with a transparent concentrate on Scottish elements and provenance. The result’s a recent base for coast and countryside escapes simply thirty minutes from the Scottish capital. The Luxurious Editor checked in for a pre-Christmas keep to expertise this newest addition to East Lothian’s luxurious resort scene.

Background & Idea

In case you are native to the world, you’ll bear in mind The Leddie as The Duck’s Inn. I used to drive previous on the best way to North Berwick and appeared with envy at friends consuming within the patio space, satisfied it made the proper suntrap, and I’m happy to see that the out of doors house continues to be very a lot a part of the expertise. Renamed The Leddie, taking the unique title of a river in Aberlady, the property reopened in 2024, becoming a member of The Marram Lodge Assortment following a serious refurbishment and multi-million-pound funding.

Simply previous to visiting, I realised I had loved lunch at their sister property, the Bushmills Inn in Northern Eire, while on a visit to fulfill and interview Bushmills Grasp Blender Alex Thomas earlier this yr. I’m equally excited to see their upcoming challenge, The Kithmore in St Andrews, opening in 2026 which will likely be a metamorphosis of the previous Ardgowan Lodge on Playfair Terrace and if The Leddie is something to go by will probably be a improbable addition to St Andrews.

Examine In & Foyer

Stepping by the stone entranceway, you progress right into a foyer with reception desk forward. The house appears like a contemporary interpretation of the traditional drawing room. Characteristic panelled partitions sit in distinction to leather-based sofas in wealthy oxblood tones, whereas a hearth behind is ready, prepared for the lengthy winter evenings. A heat welcome was supplied by Shivaugh, who checked us in, talked us by the Coastal Escape Supply, which features a welcome drink on arrival, a three-course dinner and breakfast after which confirmed us as much as our rooms.

Lounge

After checking into our rooms, we made our means all the way down to the lounge space for a welcome drink. A glass-fronted whisky cupboard separates the foyer from the lounge, and being a whisky lover and as a whisky lover I naturally paused to soak up the gathering. Two again nook cubicles then caught our eye, so we settled into one among them and perused the bar menu.

Paintings

Paintings runs all through the corridors, communal areas and bedrooms, giving the resort an additional layer of persona. The combo of types, while showing random, is intentional, with some works showing to reference Scottish surroundings and characters, whereas others are extra fashionable and graphic.

Location

Positioned on Aberlady’s excessive avenue in East Lothian, it’s a brief drive from Gullane, North Berwick and Muirfield. Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve is a couple of minutes’ stroll from the entrance door, whereas Gullane Bents seaside is reached in 5 minutes by automotive. The encompassing space varieties a part of East Lothian’s “Golf Coast”, with over twenty programs close by. Edinburgh metropolis centre is round a thirty-minute drive west, North Berwick is quarter-hour within the different path, and Newcastle is a two-hour drive south.

Bedrooms & Suites

There are 27 bedrooms in complete, with 25 situated in the primary home and two bigger Cottage Suites set inside separate outbuildings. Room classes vary from Cosy and Consolation by to Deluxe and Junior Suites. Consolation rooms are dog-friendly, whereas the interconnecting Cottage Suites work significantly nicely for households or longer stays.

Interiors take steerage from the encircling panorama, utilizing tender greens, reds and gray tones layered with pure textures, and wool throws. Given the age of the constructing, every room’s footprint is barely completely different, some have views searching to the excessive avenue whereas the courtyard and others have a pitched roof. Loos characteristic rainforest showers, inexperienced tiled partitions and L’Occitane toiletries, and home made shortbread provides a considerate contact on arrival. All rooms provide well-designed storage, lighting and plug placement, a Nespresso machine, WIFI, secure and tea and a kettle and king beds could be swapped for twins on request.

Junior Suite

I checked into room 8 on the primary ground, a Junior Suite at 28 sqm, which feels extra like a small studio residence than a regular resort room. The beneficiant structure runs from a king-size mattress at one finish to a seating space on the different, with a settee, espresso desk and wall-mounted Sensible TV. There’s a built-in unit with wardrobe house, open shelving and subsequent to it a desk that doubles as a dressing/work desk.

A Nespresso machine, tea, a kettle and complimentary bottled water cans are supplied.

Artwork continues by every of the rooms; in my room hung a pair of playful prints. One a tender examine of cactus-like foliage, the opposite a fragile illustration of a peacock. It’s an surprising pairing for coastal East Lothian and one which made me pause and marvel why it had been chosen and what story it was meant to inform.

The toilet continues the room’s aesthetic calm, with tender inexperienced tiles and a big walk-in rainfall bathe helped alongside by a line-up of L’Occitane facilities.

Cottage Suite

I additionally considered the Cottage Suites. These two suites are situated in a separate space simply behind the primary home. Every has its personal entrance door and terrace. One suite measures round 29 sqm and the opposite 36 sqm because it consists of an upstairs house. The 2 cottages could be booked collectively and interconnect, making them superb for households or small teams.

Deluxe Room

And room 1, a front-facing deluxe room, additionally caught my eye, its three sash home windows providing views out over Aberlady’s principal avenue.

Bar & Restaurant

The restaurant is led by Head Chef Lewis Lane, whose culinary pedigree consists of time in a few of Scotland’s most revered kitchens, together with 21212, Restaurant Mark Greenaway, Timberyard and Borthwick Fortress. His cooking leans into Scotland’s pure larder, with a transparent concentrate on sustainability and locality, with suppliers largely drawn from inside a brief radius of Aberlady. The restaurant itself appears like a wise fashionable village eating room, a leather-based banquette wraps round three partitions, paired with marble-topped tables and eating chairs. On the opposite facet, a curved timber bar runs alongside one facet, which leads out to the patio on the again – superb for these summer time months forward.

Dinner

Dishes are constructed round easy flavours, typically with a Scandinavian thread from Lane’s Timberyard days. The menu itself balances between consolation and refinement, providing elevated pub classics. We began with John Gilmour haggis bonbons, little crisp spheres topped with slivers of apple and apple purée, and a burrata starter adopted, the cheese sitting on a mattress of greens with roasted squash, confit pear and a lightweight mustard dressing.

For mains, we each ordered fish and chips (and it needs to be one of the best I’ve had this yr) the batter gentle and glassy, nearly felt double fried with the proper crispness is served with crushed peas, tartare sauce and a wedge of lemon. Throughout the remainder of the menu, dishes corresponding to East Lothian lamb rump with autumn greens or complete sea bream with lemon and caper dressing underline the dedication to native Scottish suppliers.

For desserts, the sticky toffee pudding arrived in a beneficiant pool of butterscotch sauce with a scoop of ice cream slowly melting into the sides, and the apple crumble got here advisable, baked in a small copper pan, all tender fruit and crisp, nearly biscuit-like topping with ice cream.

Breakfast

After an awesome sleep we went down for breakfast. For starters, I had the yoghurt and apple compote, and for mains we opted for one vegetarian cooked breakfast and one traditional cooked breakfast.

Patio

Ultimate Ideas

Since opening, The Leddie has hit the bottom operating, gaining an AA Rosette for culinary excellence, the East Lothian Lodge of the 12 months award and a advice in The Instances High 100 Locations to Keep and we’re not shocked. The Leddie gives a contemporary tackle the traditional village inn, rooms are design-led, the restaurant is a vacation spot in its personal proper, and the setting fits everybody from golfers to households and {couples} trying to loosen up.