Inverlochy Castle Hotel

Our stay at Inverlochy Castle was a one of a kind experience. We have stayed at luxury properties at several locations, and it’s common to find ‘good’ places. It’s uncommon to find ‘great’ places. But Inverlochy Castle was in a word ‘exceptional’. The rarest of the rare, where the history, heritage and hospitality on offer engulfed our senses. More than the location, it was the people who made our stay memorable. In no particular order, we would like to mention a few: Mr Abhishek, Mr William, Mr Daragh, Mr Aadesh, Mr Tom and the entire housekeeping staff. From their personal attention to their efforts to make us comfortable, they all exuded genuine warmth and caring, for which we are grateful.  A special thanks to the chefs and the kitchen staff who made our meals memorable & Mr Rahul, the pianist who warmed our hearts by the fireplace every evening deserves a special mention.

Driving up to the castle, you feel as though you are stepping back in time. This feeling intensifies when you walk through the stately doors. You feel as though you are entering the world of the Mitford sisters in the 1930s, and history is all around you. This is not a huge castle if you are expecting one but a castle that welcomes you with an incredibly warm staff headed by David Robertson, GM, Dara, the AGM, Amalie who checked us in plus all of the other members of staff who could not have been more welcome. The tasting menu dinner was amazing. Coming from the midwest, I am no stranger to venison, but the preparation and quality were exceptional. For more casual dining Factors Inn was perfect and just a short walk from the main castle. The young woman who helped us both nights we ate there was lovely .( I am embarrassed to say, I can't remember her name.) Whether sitting in the main reception hall or the drawing room, which reminded me of Downton Abby , the hotel has a marvelous feel. Our room was large and well appointed as was the bathroom. I travel quite a bit, and sheets are very important to me in assessing the quality of a hotel. The sheets were marvelously crisp and welcoming. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful as well. We had a view of the glen in the back of the castle, and it was stunning. Lastly, a shoutout to Tom and Stanley, who were also very helpful. Well done, Inverlochy Castle, and thank you for making our stay so memorable.

I had read before that Inverlochy was the nicest hotel in Scotland. It is a nice hotel for sure. We had a relatively big and comfortable room. There is no elevator, so luggage had to be carried to our room. The hotel has a very nice lobby with a fireplace, we liked to have some drinks there and play some games. The menue in the restaurant was good, but not spectacular. Overall, we had a good stay there, but at over 1.400 Euros (incl. Dinner and Wines) for one night, it was also somewhat overpriced.

We arrived in Edinburgh the day before, spent the night at a ‘small luxury hotel of the world’ which was okay… and then headed to Fort William for the night, en route to a hotel on the Isle of Skye where we had planned to stay for five days. We had heard about Inverlochy Castle. It was also recommended by Ten Lifestyle, our Concierge service who booked it for us. I also recall many years ago reading a ‘Winners Dinners’ review in the ‘Sunday Times’ which was excellent. Everything about this hotel was lovely. We were served complimentary champagne when we arrived, dinner was extremely good, they have a superb chef. They served champagne to guests before dinner along with the most delicious amuse bouche and they were generous with everything, nothing ran out. Dinner is a set menubut they were excellent with dealing with special diets and allergies The entire hotel is beautiful, very well kept and our rooms were perfect. Breakfast the following day was lovely. We chatted with the general manager who has been involved with the hotel for 30 years. He told us a story about the late Michael Winner who he picked up at the port as he arrived by boat. I am delighted to highly recommend this hotel. After breakfast, we set off to the Isle of Skye where it all went downhill so badly that we departed Skye a day early and checked into a hotel in Inverness. I am going to review the hotel in the Isle of Skye. Meanwhile, do take a look at my photographs .

This was our second time at Inverlochy. The room was superb and exactly as discussed on booking with the view we wanted, dual aspect and spacious. We had the Seasgair evening dinner (its the only choice!) and it was fabulous. We had champagne and canapes in the main hall and then an excellent tasting menu in the main dining room. Breakfast the next day was ok, but on the second day when we left it was appauling! We noticed the slow service and other tables were complaining about the delay. We waited 25 mins after ordering the full breakfast but when it arrived the egg was stone cold and congealed and the bacon too tough to cut. The rest was piping hot. I tried to call the attention of the staff to replace but they avoided me even though they had seen me. We drew the attention of the manager only to have her close the door on me! We left the breakfast and walked out. When we came to settle the bill we complained to the manager (the same one who had ignored us) who said they would have replaced if we had asked and our fault for not asking. We pointed out we were ignored and was told by her rudely that other guests were more important and they had to deal with them first. There was a heated discussion and it became apparent there were staff issues with 3 people not turning up but the attitude towards us was unacceptable and we will not be returning.