Travel + Leisure
By Sarah Gillespie
Overlooking the 18th hole of Royal Troon Golf Club is Marine Troon, an 89-room hotel built in 1894. After reopening in June 2022, following a six-month refurbishment, it became part of the Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts collection of boutique golf hotels, a group that includes the prestigious Rusacks St Andrews and Marine North Berwick.
Marine Troon has a bar and restaurant, both serving high-end Scottish cuisine, and a spa with a pool, steam room, and sauna. Wellness treatments use oils and masks by Ishga, a company making Scottish seaweed–based skin care products in the Outer Hebrides.
Aside from a smattering of green accents and some historical photos, Marine Troon wears its heritage lightly. It’s more about that phenomenal view, which extends past Troon Beach and the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran. The interior is thoughtfully designed, and perhaps best described as Scottish coastal maximalism. It shouldn’t work, but it does: paisley on paisley, green velvet and blue leather, tartan cushions and wicker chandeliers.
Cultural references are so abundant in the space that I’m surprised to discover an American team was behind the redesign. “We dig deep into the local history and culture, visiting antique shops and boutiques,” says Philip Allen, president of Marine & Lawn and a native of Louisville, Kentucky, who now lives in London. “We really leaned into the idea of the nexus between sea and land. There’s actually not a whole lot of golf iconography.”