Value Hotels in Scotland
Trigony House - Early Bird Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Special Offer
Thornhill
Jan and Adam Moore’s relaxed, pet-friendly country hotel is in an 18th-century sporting lodge surrounded by mature gardens and woodland.
The Colonsay
Isle of Colonsay
The island’s only hotel is set on a hillside above the harbour, and has sweeping views across the bay to Jura.
Jura Hotel
Isle of Jura
There are glorious views across Small Isles Bay from the McCallum family’s hotel, restaurant and pub, in the only village, on the only road, on this remote, beautiful island.
The Foveran
St Ola
Stunning sea views accompany the food at this ‘welcoming’ restaurant-with-rooms, where the dining room overlooks the sheltered waters of Scapa Flow and the southern Orkney Islands.
The Ceilidh Place
Ullapool
With bookshop and bar, coffee shop, restaurant and events space, the Urquhart family’s hotel in a fishing village on Loch Broom hums with activity.
Coul House
Strathpeffer
A private road leads to this singular Georgian mansion in lovely gardens and grounds, with ancient trees, a pitch-and-putt area, and a fairy trail through the rhododendrons for children.
Eddrachilles Hotel
Scourie
This ‘ideally situated’ hotel, which offers shoreside views of Badcall Bay, with its bobbing fishing boats, and Quinag mountain beyond, continues to win warm praise from readers.
Kylesku Hotel
Kylesku
Ferries no longer skim across Loch Glendhu to Kylestrome, but you can still watch the day’s catch being landed on the slipway, from Tanja Lister and Sonia Virechauveix’s 17th-century coaching inn turned award-winning hotel.
The Pierhouse
Port Appin
Situated ‘well off the beaten track’, this former home of a piermaster is a ‘relaxed and friendly’ lochside bolt-hole, known for its seafood restaurant.
Barley Bree
Muthill
A red-stone 19th-century inn in a conservation village took on a new lease of life in 2007 when Fabrice and Alison Bouteloup hung out the flower baskets and opened their restaurant-with-rooms.
Smiddy House
Spean Bridge
‘Every visit exceeds expectations,’ writes a fan of Robert Bryson and Glen Russell’s restaurant-with-rooms in a village dubbed ‘the crossroads to the Highlands’.
The Dulaig
Grantown-on-Spey
Hens roam the landscaped gardens of this B&B, a stroll from a town set amid ancient woodlands on the edge of the Cairngorms national park.
Gordon’s
Arbroath
Readers are charmed by the warm welcome they receive from hostess Maria Watson and the ‘outstanding food’ created by Garry, her son, at this restaurant-with-rooms in a Victorian terrace house in a village close to the North Sea coast.
Grasshoppers
Glasgow
A recent guest describes this modern, style-conscious and budget-friendly penthouse hotel, next to Glasgow Central Station, as a ‘great find’.
Coll Hotel
Isle of Coll
Seafaring readers anchored at Arinagour to seek a shower and dinner at the social hub of ‘a beautiful island with spectacular beaches, dark-sky park and wonderful wildlife’.
Riverwood
Pitlochry
You can gaze out at the River Tay over breakfast at Ann and Alf Berry’s Arts and Crafts-style B&B in wooded grounds on the edge of a conservation village.
The Inn at Loch Tummel
Pitlochry
A great leap of imagination carried Alice and Jade Calliva from a Croydon flat to the 18th-century coaching inn with spectacular views across the loch to Schiehallion, the local Munro.
The Ship Inn
Elie
Rachel and Graham Bucknall run a happy ship indeed at this village pub-with-rooms on the beach, with view across the Firth of Forth.
Bridgend Hotel
Isle of Islay
There’s whisky galore on the Inner Hebrides island of Islay; bonhomie in the bar of this friendly hotel.
Burt’s
Melrose
On the market square of a pretty Borders town, the Henderson family has owned and run this well-established hotel for nearly 50 years.
Caddon View
Innerleithen
‘It’s a delight to stay’ at Lisa and Stephen Davies’s ‘great-value’ guest house in the Tweed valley, say visitors who laud the friendly welcome and home-baked treats on offer.
Scourie Hotel
Scourie
The Campbell family’s old coaching inn has long been a mecca for fisherfolk, who come hoping to catch wild brown trout and salmon from the lochs and lochans around.
Craigatin House and Courtyard
Pitlochry
Amid two acres of gardens and woodland – look out for wandering pheasants – this Victorian house has been brought up to date with bright, modern rooms and a lofty, glass-fronted extension overlooking the neat lawn.
Sunny Brae
Nairn
‘The panorama of the sea’ is an attraction at this ‘good-value’ B&B on the Moray coast; the welcome, by ‘friendly, personable’ hosts John Bochel and Rachel Philipsen, is another.
The Bridge Inn at Ratho
Ratho
Beside a bridge over the Union Canal, Graham and Rachel Bucknall’s genial pub-with-rooms is conveniently sited for Edinburgh airport.
Galson Farm Guest House
Isle of Lewis
On the north-west coast of the island, a ‘peaceful area teeming with wildlife’, this traditional Hebridean farmhouse displays rugged views across to the Butt of Lewis.
The Meikleour Arms
Meikleour
In a Victorian fishing lodge on the Meikleour estate, owned by the same Franco-Scottish family since 1362, this friendly country inn benefits from a verdant woodland setting and a double-bank salmon beat on the River Tay.
The Loch Ness Inn
Drumnadrochit
In a village on the Great Glen Way, hikers and cyclists stop for the simple comforts of this 160-year-old coaching inn.
The Kirkstyle Inn & Rooms
Dunning
Genial Scottish hospitality and a traditional pub ethos are preserved in this welcoming village inn, a log-fire-warmed, fiddle-accompanied hark back to the past.
Achray House
St Fillans
In a picture-perfect setting by the shores of Loch Earn, this small hotel is in a conservation village within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park.
Loch Melfort Hotel
Oban
In 17 acres of gardens and beach on the Argyll coast, Calum and Rachel Ross’s hotel drinks in the views across Asknish Bay and the island-studded Sound of Jura.
Ardanaiseig
Kilchrenan
Swing round a winding road to this turreted, Jacobean-style baronial mansion – ‘a palatial old joint’ – in a ‘beautiful’ setting on the shores of Loch Awe.
The Creggans Inn
Strachur
The sunsets are something to behold from this whitewashed inn at Creggans Point, on the east shore of Loch Fyne, with views to the Kintyre mountains.
Langass Lodge
Locheport
On an island of white-sand beaches, lochs and peat bogs, Amanda and Niall Leveson Gower run their ‘handsome’ sporting lodge as a family-friendly hotel.
Dalshian House
Pitlochry
Martin and Heather Walls’s ‘blissfully remote’, good-value B&B is in a white-painted Georgian house, in gardens and woodland on the outskirts of town.
23 Mayfield
Edinburgh
This family-run B&B, in a detached Victorian house a mile from the city centre, is nothing short of outstanding, say readers.
Moyness House
Inverness
On a quiet residential street, John and Jane Martin’s good-value B&B is within a short walk, over the River Ness, of the centre.
2 Quail
Dornoch
‘Friendly, thoughtful hosts’, ‘a comfortable bed’ and ‘delicious breakfasts’ add up to ‘a good stay’ at Kerensa and Michael Carr’s B&B, close to the cathedral and Royal Dornoch Golf Club.
The Colintraive Hotel
Colintraive
On a no-through road in a small village with spectacular views across the Kyles of Bute, this former shooting lodge is today a ‘thoroughly recommended’ dining pub-with-rooms-and-moorings.
Sunbank House
Perth
Within easy walking distance of the bustling centre, this ‘lovely, comfortable’ Victorian house is set back from the road amid mature, ‘well-tended’ gardens.
Good value B&Bs and country house hotels in Scotland
Travelling to Scotland is an opportunity to experience all its marvellous hospitality and beautiful views and vistas. The history of the cities, the romance of the Borders and Highlands, the spectacular majesty of the lochs, coast and mountains are all major draw cards to this rugged part of the UK, but the best news is that it doesn’t have to cost a fortune either.
Bring the dog and a sense of adventure, whether your staying in a B&B or a country house hotel, but crucially, if you know where to choose there are some magnificent hotels that are also very good value in Scotland.
Food and drink are a part of the national culture – a good whisky and excellent biscuits to greet you whatever the time of day are in general par for the course, and the joy of the experiences lies in its authenticity. Hotels such as Trigony House where dogs are welcome and you are surrounded by rolling hills and farmland, are favourites amongst returning guests.
Meanwhile, coastal locations such as The Colonsay are understated but the stuff that literary fiction is made of, such is its unique setting up a single track on the Isle of Colonsay. Unpretentious and worth every penny, the 18th-century inn is buzzy with bountiful food and drink and regular music evenings.
Scotland is also no stranger to grandeur. Places such as Ardanaiseig provide excellent locations for weddings with awe-inspiring loch views, and magnificent architecture, complete with a little eccentricity thrown in for good measure and marking Scotland out as a thoroughly welcoming holiday destination whether you’re visiting on a romantic weekend, a solo getaway or a family holiday.