by Anyone who watches the BBC’s Bafta-winning reality TV show, The Traitors, he will be familiar with the dramatic scenes at the end of each episode. The traitors, gathering in a secret tower somewhere, tip off their potential victims and we cut away.
Panning shot of the beef doing bicep curls on the edge of his four poster bed. Close to another competitor, drowned in a deep roll-top bath. The telepathic one looking into a crystal ball (and so on).
The rooms are extremely elegant, as you would expect at one of Scotland’s most magnificent castles. And it’s all, of course, deliberately Cluedo-esque, with contestants looking nervously towards the door. But the suggestion that the contestants sleep in unusual digs is a creative expression, and new details have emerged about the airport hotel where they actually stay.
The show is filmed at Ardross Castle in Roshmaine, with challenges taking place in the nearby lakes and woodlands. At the end of each episode (in the UK version of the show) cars with tinted windows and personalized number plates arrive to collect the contestants, whisking them away to “single accommodation” at an undisclosed location.
British actor Alan Cumming, host of the US version of the show which is filmed at Ross Castle, first revealed the real location of the Traitors contestants’ accommodation.
In an interview with the Daily Beast in 2023 he said: “None of us stayed in the castle. they [the contestants] they all stayed in the airport hotel at Inverness Airport. How elegant – you come to Scotland, and you stay at the Inverness Airport hotel.”
In the US version, the contestants are filmed walking up the stairs of the castle every night, as if they were staying overnight.
“I stayed in a small house in Inverness. But I had a room in the castle where I would go up and dress. There was a big bed in it. So, I slept very often, but not overnight,” he said.
Charles Shires, a former guest at the Courtyard by Marriott at Inverness Airport told the Telegraph that he stayed at the hotel in the spring of 2022.
“I was in Inverness back in May 2022, working out of Inverness Airport, doing survey flights for SSE across the Highlands. I remember I could only book one night here because the hotel was really busy and I had to book another hotel in Inverness town center the next night,” said he.
When he asked why the hotel was so booked, the receptionist said they were filming a “reality show” but wouldn’t confirm which one. Security was tight, says Shires: “The hotel has a central lift and each level is basically one long corridor. I had the guard on the floor sitting near the elevator but where he could see down the corridors and know who was entering and leaving the rooms.
“I also asked the guard on my floor what show it was and he also said it was a ‘new reality show’, but he wouldn’t say which one,” Shires added.
Opened in March 2020, The Courtyard by Marriott is a four-star hotel just minutes away from Inverness Airport and a 45-minute drive from Ardrush Castle, 30 miles to the north. The Courtyard has 130 rooms, with arrival and departure desks in the lobby, as well as a fitness centre.
“The hotel is very clean and modern,” says Shires. “And one thing I remember is that the rooms are very soundproof. You can’t hear any sound from the adjacent rooms, and the windows don’t open. So, with the guard watching the doors, it would be a great hotel to keep the contestants apart.”
Shires has stayed at the Courtyard Marriott a few times in the past but noticed a change from 2022 onwards: “It was very difficult to get a room there, and the rates seemed to be much higher from 2022 on, at least in the summer months. I think I paid £260 for one night which was way over my company’s budget.”
The BBC would not comment on where the Traitors contestants stayed during the filming of the programme.
Can I spend the night in Betrayers Castle?
Situated on a former hunting estate once owned by the first Duke of Sutherland, banker, opium dealer and MP Alexander Matheson built today’s Ardross Castle – a triumphal, turreted, fairytale-esque – in the 1840s, before changing hands again. and several times throughout time. years.
Today the private residence, set in 100 acres of parkland on the banks of the River Alanis, can be hired for weddings and private events (plus, of course, TV shows), accommodating up to 41 guests. . However, it is not a hotel and is not open for day trips or guided tours.
Can I visit the other locations where The Traitors is shot?
The beauty of the castle and its surroundings has captured the imagination of the public. Trainline says bookings to Inverness have increased by 25 per cent since the first series aired. One firm, Rabbies, now offers a ‘Traitors Tour’ to the Ardrush area, visiting Loch Glass, where several challenges take place, as well as visits to nearby Logie Falls and Glenmorangie Distillery (a 16-seater minicoach costs £560 per day).
The latest series of The Traitors it was opened and the competitors met at Boat of Garten station where they boarded a steam train on the Strathspey Railway. They then traveled ten miles to Aviemore, which is the wrong direction for anyone intending to reach Ardross (more than an hour away). A ticket with a “light lunch” from Aviemore to Bád an Gartain, and from there to Broomhill costs £29.50 per adult (book in advance).
Unfortunately, the aerial shots of the train, which goes around the Glenfinan Viaduct, are not accurate either. This iconic stretch of track, made famous in the Harry Potter films, is located in the West Highlands about 74 miles from Aviemore. The Jacobite Steam Train operates services on the line, although its future is at risk due to health and safety concerns over its door locking mechanisms.
Another filming location in the show is Ardross Church (known as Ardross Ark) which is located just outside the castle grounds. The volunteer-run church hosts community events and describes itself as “a sanctuary where you can pause, breathe, and find a quiet moment for yourself to collect your thoughts, visions, and ideas.”
