Since 1887, Marine & Lawn Rusacks has stood alongside the 18th green of the Old Course, watching more than a century of golf history unfold outside its windows. The oldest hotel still standing in St Andrews, its story is woven into the town, the game and the generations who have made the journey here.
The story begins with Wilhelm Rusack, a German émigré who met Fife-born Janet Welsh while working in Glasgow. After a visit to St Andrews captured Janet’s imagination, the couple made the town their home, eventually seizing on the arrival of the railway in 1887 to build a new hotel beside the Old Course.
Designed by St Andrews architects Hall & Henry, the hotel opened in 1887, with extensions following in 1893 and 1911. Originally named the Marine Hotel, each addition was carefully designed to match the original building.
That first name is still hiding in plain sight. Look up at the chimney of the original section and you’ll find MARINE picked out in the stone.
As the hotel grew, the Rusacks became fixtures of St Andrews life. Wilhelm served on the town council and as Dean of Guild, while the family built a collection of businesses around the town.
The hotel was breaking new ground too. Rusacks became the first hotel in St Andrews to be lit by electric light and the first to have a telephone.
The Rusack family’s connection to the game became personal when Agnes Morris, great-granddaughter of Old Tom Morris, married Wilhelm and Janet’s son Willie.
By the 1930s and 1940s, Rusacks was widely considered one of Scotland’s finest hotels. Royalty, prime ministers and industrialists stayed here, along with Hollywood names including Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
The hotel had its own motor cars and chauffeurs, while its smoking room became a gathering place for guests after dinner — all with the Old Course just outside.
Much of the hotel’s history is still visible today. The original lobby fireplace bears the Latin inscription Dum Spiro Spero — “While I breathe, I hope” — borrowed from the St Andrews Golf Coat of Arms.
Paintings by Joe Austen depict Old Tom Morris, Wilhelm Rusack and generations of golfers, while antiques from the original hotel have been restored and returned to use, including a wardrobe once owned by the Rusack family.
Marine & Lawn Rusacks remains in the same building Wilhelm Rusack opened in 1887, sensitively restored and extended for a new generation. A rooftop now looks across the Old Course, Swilcan Bridge, the medieval skyline of St Andrews and the sea beyond.
Nearly 140 years later, the setting that started it all remains unchanged: the Old Course is still right outside.