Marine North Berwick overlooks the West Links at North Berwick Golf Club. (Image: Marine & Lawn)
Rapidly expanding luxury hotel group Marine & Lawn offers sweeping fairway views from four of Scotland’s most iconic hotels: Rusacks St Andrews, Marine North Berwick, Marine Troon, and Dornoch Station Hotel.
(Last updated January 2024.)
Few golf properties in Scotland—or anywhere in the world—can match the fairway views of the Marine & Lawn hotel group.
Formed in October 2020 by U.S.-based AJ Capital Partners following its purchase of the Marine Hotel in Troon, the chain’s high-end Scottish properties also include Rusacks St. Andrews, Marine North Berwick, and Dornoch Station Hotel.
Rusacks St Andrews, famous for its outlook over the 18th fairway of the Old Course, has added a new wing with 44 rooms. (Image: Marine & Lawn)
The now rebranded Marine Troon is famous for its outlook over the opening and finishing holes of Royal Troon Golf Club, the host of nine Open Championships. Rusacks St Andrews, meanwhile, overlooks the Old Course in the heart of golf’s spiritual home. Marine North Berwick affords panoramic views of the West Links at renowned North Berwick Golf Club. And Dornoch Station Hotel (the former Dornoch Hotel) is just a short walk from the first tee of Royal Dornoch Golf Club, a links regarded as one of the best in the world.
Ben Weprin, the founder of AJ Capital Partners, says that the goal of Marine & Lawn is to offer “a hand-crafted” hospitality experience. “Our background is rooted in restoring iconic community landmarks and creating distinctive spaces for both locals and travellers alike.”
In the United Kingdom, the private Nashville-based real estate company also owns and operates the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, and the Cambridge Hotel in Cambridge. And AJ Capital Partners made headlines in Northern Ireland with its October 2021 purchase of the Slieve Donard Hotel, a Victorian-era landmark set beside Royal County Down Golf Club.
The former Macdonald Rusacks Hotel became the first link in the Marine Hotel chain following its acquisition in November 2019. Renovations to the rebranded Rusacks St Andrews included the addition of a 42,000-square-foot wing of the hotel (including 44 additional rooms), and a rooftop bar. The hotel’s culinary team has partnered with White Rabbit Projects to create a Scottish-inspired range of dishes using locally sourced ingredients at its three restaurants and bars, two of which overlook the first and 18th holes of the Old Course.
Next came the February 2020 purchase of the former Macdonald Marine Hotel and Spa in North Berwick. Changes to the rebranded Marine North Berwick included six additional rooms, two new food and drink venues, a large meeting and event space, and an indoor-outdoor spa and fitness centre.
Set beside the finishing holes of Royal Troon Golf Club, Marine Troon has upgraded its rooms, event spaces, and fitness and leisure centre. (Image: Marine & Lawn)
At Marine Troon, the chain’s third Scottish acquisition, the major upgrade started by former proprietors Cannock Group and Stellar Asset Management was completed and enhanced. The reimagined hotel includes redesigned guest rooms and expanded meeting and event spaces, as well as an updated fitness and leisure centre, complete with an indoor pool, squash court, sauna and steam facilities. Marine Troon’s new dining rooms, The Rabbit Restaurant and its sister bar The Seal, focus on local ingredients, including Scottish seafood and game. Both overlook Royal Troon Golf Club’s 17th hole, with views towards the islands of Arran and Ailsa Craig. The historic course will host the 2024 Open Championship, the tenth Open held in Troon.
And in September 2022, Marine and Lawn purchased the former Dornoch Hotel. The property reopened as Dornoch Station Hotel (the hotel’s original name when it first opened in 1902) in August 2023 following comprehensive renovations, including the addition of 89 guest rooms.
Just about all that remains unchanged at Marine & Lawn’s Scottish golf properties are the fairway views.
