A Birthday to Remember: A Mother-Daughter Stay at Fairmont St Andrews

By Emma Kate Miller

The Fairmont St Andrews offers spectacular coastal as well as five-star indulgence.

For Emilia’s 21st birthday, a night at Fairmont St Andrews offered spectacular coastal views, a little five-star indulgence and some precious time together. For me, it brought back memories of another rather special night, 21 years earlier.

A Little Birthday Luxury

The Fairmont St Andrews is barely five minutes from Emilia’s front door, yet it felt a world away from student life. Perched above St Andrews Bay, the hotel occupies a spectacular coastal setting, although on this occasion its proximity to town was rather more important than its distance from civilisation.

We checked in to find birthday balloons, fizz and a handwritten card waiting in our room. There were two queen-sized beds and a bathroom stocked with one of our shared weaknesses, Le Labo Rose 31. Emilia was delighted, and I was reminded how much these little touches can matter.

One small matter stood between Emilia and complete birthday abandon: 400 words on Roman slavery. University work, it turns out, does not respect birthdays. So down we went to the bar, laptop in tow, to finish an assignment that felt pleasingly incongruous with the five-star surroundings. Roman slavery dispatched, a glass of fizz felt entirely justified.

Twenty-One Years Later

Somewhere between the work and dinner, we began talking about birthdays gone by.

Spending the evening alone with her felt particularly right because, 21 years earlier, it was exactly what we had done. The night after Emilia was born, it was just the two of us. I was a slightly more confident mother second time around, although no less exhausted, lying beside this extraordinarily beautiful little baby and feeling that peculiar, overwhelming love that arrives with a new person.

Now I was sitting opposite her, looking at the funny, charming young woman she has become. Beautiful, yes, but that is perhaps the least interesting thing about her.

It's the Little Things

Dinner was at La Cucina, the hotel’s Italian restaurant, where we shared sea bass and spaghetti alle vongole, with truffle fries and broccoli on the side. Matthew, our lovely server, appeared at the end with a little strawberry sponge and a Happy Birthday message.

I’ve written before about the importance of thoughtful hospitality. The Fairmont knew why we were there and had taken the trouble to acknowledge it, both on arrival and over dinner. Neither gesture was particularly extravagant, but both made us feel that the occasion mattered. And really, isn’t that what good hospitality should do?

No Plans, No Rush

Back upstairs, we changed into our new Damson Madder pyjamas from Spoiled Life. Emilia had brought face masks. She had a bath, I had a shower, we made peppermint tea and then luxuriated in the almost absurd pleasure of a queen-sized bed each. There is something wonderfully indulgent about a hotel evening that requires absolutely nothing of you, particularly when you’ve brought one of your favourite people in the world along.

The next morning there was no rush. A leisurely breakfast was followed by a visit to the spa. We didn’t book treatments, although the menu includes facials and body treatments from Skin Rocks, Scottish skincare brand ishga and ESPA, which will certainly interest those looking to make more of their visit.

And then there are those views. The hotel’s position above St Andrews Bay is quite spectacular, with an enormous expanse of sea and sky stretching out before you. It’s easy to forget, looking out across the water, that the town and all its student bustle are only minutes away.

Eventually, though, it was time to return to real life. Back at Emilia’s flat, a beautiful birthday cake was waiting, along with balloons, friends and a fabulous autumnal tablescape. At St Andrews, Wednesday is party night, and I wouldn’t have dreamt of interfering with that particular birthday tradition.

But on her actual birthday, her 21st, she had made time for me.

Twenty-one years after our first night together, we had another. Different beds this time, thankfully, better toiletries and considerably less crying (well, from her).

I suspect I’ll remember this birthday for a very long time. Not because we did anything especially extravagant, but because, for one lovely evening, I had her all to myself.

Hood was hosted by Fairmont St Andrews.

Emma Kate MIller

Hood’s Founder and Editor in Chief has 25 years of experience working in fashion and beauty PR, including working at London Fashion Week and London College of Fashion. She founded Hood in 2018 because there was no magazine in Scotland dedicated to creating inspirational lifestyle content for Scottish women.