The Macdonald Rusacks Hotel overlooks the 18th and 1st holes at the Old Course at St Andrews. This couldn’t be a better place to wake up in the morning when you have a 7 am tee off as we did when we played the Old Course at St Andrews during our ultimate guys trip to where the game of golf began.

Trip Report Index (Reverse Order):

• British Airways First Class London To Atlanta
• British Airways First Class Happy Hour
• Lunch In British Airways Concorde Room
• London Concorde Room Walkthrough
• Breakfast In The Concorde Room And British Airways 1A On A319
• British Airways Club Lounge in Edinburgh
• Jewel Of The Crown–Happy Hour In Edinburgh Scotland
• McDonald Rusacks Hotel St Andrews Scotland (This Post)
• The Old Course at St Andrews Scotland Golf Round
• St Andrews, Scotland Happy Hour
• Carnoustie Golf Links Angus Scotland Golf Round
• Drive From South Port To St Andrews Golf Courses
• Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club Lancashire England
• Hotel Vincent In Southport England
• Royal Birkdale Golf Club Southport England
• British Airways Coach Class From London to Manchester
• Breakfast In The Concorde Room First Class Lounge
• American Airlines First Class From Miami To London (777 Trip Report)
• OneWorld Miami Premium Lounge Video Walk Through
• American Airlines Miami Admirals Club Video Walk Through
• Ultimate Golf AAward Trip AA First Class To Where It All Began

If you’d like a quick video walkthrough of the hotel, click on the video below. But a quick warning, the video was taken by a complete amateur and might even make you sick due to the transitions. So watch at your own risk

We arrived after a long drive from South Port, England to St Andrews, Scotland and had a reservation at Roca Grill that evening. But we first had to check in to our rooms and get settled.

The front entrance is on a main street.

Parking is in the rear directly next to the 18th fairway at St Andrews.

There is a small little seating area in the front lobby.

We checked in and were on our way, but didn’t get far given the history of this hotel. A quick stop by some of the rooms and we found this mural of some of golf’s greatest players.

Our dad was “upgraded” to the John Daly room. We were skeptical after seeing the room, but after a quick look out the window, we knew why it was an upgrade.

The view out the window was amazing. It was cool so you could basically keep the windows open all night.

Nice view of St Andrews club house, the 18th fairway and the 1st tee box at St Andrews.

My brother and I shared a room. After all, we were there to play golf, not spend time in the room. It was small, cozy and worked for us on this guys trip.

The Roca Grill is a restaurant that overlooks the 18th green, 1st tee and St Andrews Club House. A great setting to kickoff our time in St Andrews.

We started with drinks at the Roca Bar with a St Andrews Happy Hour, but the views aren’t as good as from the restaurant, so we quickly made our way to our table.

I had made reservations in advance through Top Table (Open Table) through their online booking system and was able to make a request for a table by the window. This view far exceeded our expectations.

The food was very good and the drinks were better. My brother and dad both went with the predictable Filet Mignon but I went with the pappardelle and it was the best.

You can see how close the Rusacks Hotel is to the St Andrews course from the picture below which I took from the first tee at the St Andrews Old Course.

A view below of St Andrews from the Old Course.

After our round, it was time for a quick bite to eat before we were to head down to Edinburgh for our last night in Scotland and our last happy hour on the guys trip.

We landed on the One Under restaurant and bar which is underneath the Rusacks Hotel in the lower level. Its apparently the place college kids go on a weekend night when school is in session. So you can likely find a good beer and a good price.

Overall our stay at the Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews was great. There are likely fancier hotels in town but this one had a few things going for it. A nice restaurant virtually on the course and is close enough to the Old Course that you can walk to your tee time in the morning and walk back to your happy hour in the evening.