Ring in NYE in style: The best last-minute staycations you can still book

A few hours north of Edinburgh, where the Cairngorms surge in all their smooth, rhythmic and peaty glory, lies a reimagined Victorian Coaching inn, snapped up by art power couple Iwan and Manuela Wirth. It is now the heart of film set-worthy Braemar, a town that, by virtue of its proximity to Balmoral (where Queen Victoria once roamed the heather-carpeted hills with Mr Brown), has received a sprinkling of regal fairy dust and architectural good looks. The Fife Arms taps into this era of eccentric Victoriana, just with lashings of contemporary art (think Freuds and Picassos casually hanging beside old watercolours). It’s the sort of place that comes into its own during the winter months, with a fire-lit tavern of ale and venison pie, bedrooms dressed head-to-toe in tartan with deep, steaming baths and, on New Year’s Eve, a self-played Steinway to ease guests into a memorable Hogmanay and full black tie. This includes a four-course dinner in the taxidermy-centred Clunie Dining Room, fireworks lighting up the magnificent Cairngorms backdrop at midnight and various New Year’s Day feasts, including a Buck’s Fizz Scottish breakfast. Rosalyn Wikeley