Speel | a luxury kingsize room
Speel is an old Scottish word which means ‘the climb.’
We would recommend an overnight bag when checking in to Speel because the climb is from the ground floor, up a small secret spiral staircase, to an impressive second-floor bedroom, which is absolutely worth it.
When we started to pull back the old lime plaster on the gable wall to reveal the original stonework, we decided to stop, and not to pull it all back. We liked the idea of leaving layers of the castle’s history visible. We were not sure we were making the right decision.
When we custom mixed our own lime paint to create a deep royal blue, we questioned the colour as it went on the wall after every brushstroke. When we struggled up the stairs and sat the copper bath in place, we panicked. Was it too flashy for a 16th Century castle?!
When the paint dried it had the most fantastic texture. When we pushed our bravely upholstered antique monkey bed up against the old wall it looked like it had always meant to be there. Some patinaed art deco taps above our flashy copper bath were the perfect contrast. Speel is now one of our favourite rooms. It’s accidentally awesome!
With a vaulted ceiling, the room has a wonderful feeling of space and is flooded with natural light from a window in the roof which also gives a cheeky glimpse of the blue skies and green treetops that tower over the castle.
A room for the bold.