Scotland Accomodation Questions, Please Help
 

We will be traveling around Scotland in October 2011. We will be staying in the following areas:

Edinburgh
St. Andrews
Inverness
Portree
Kyleakin
Inveraray
Glasgow

We are looking for clean and comfortable rooms near attractions/sights and with great breakfast. It doesn't have to be fancy. Low to middle price range would be great. An occasional spurge for a quaint or historic place would be nice too. Any suggestions?

Is it necessary to make reservations in advance for that time of year? Our itinerary is a bit fluid so it would be great if we could make reservations only a few days in advance. Is that possible? Or do our criteria require advance reservations?

Thanks!

Our experience from a few years ago is that a B&B would cost ₤50 per night. To that we had to often add the tourist office fee that made the reservation. Sometimes we just got last minute rooms, and at other times we made reservations. You might want to read my trip report. Just click on my name to find it.

Looking at both of your threads you've mentioned 16 different locations. Unless your trip is a month or more, that is a pretty ambitious list.

Having said that. What do you consider low to middle priced? Ideas of low cost can vary quite a bit. In rural areas you can pay anywhere from about £45-ish - £80 or more per night. In Edinburgh (and in Dublin on your other thread) - equivalent properties will run 40-50% higher. Castle/country house hotels higher yet.

Also--how many is "we"? That makes a huge difference whether you need to pre-book or not. If it is just a couple - then no need to pre-book in Oct. Every town has a Tourist Information Centre where they will book accommodations if you get stuck somewhere. I would 100% pre-book rooms in Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

I would <u>not</u> stay in Inverness. In the general area w/i 10 or 15 miles of I'ness would be great for 3 or 4 days-- but not IN the city.

janisj, Thanks. It will be me and my DH. We are going for just over a month. The 45-80 poundish you mention is PP, right? I'm trying to put together a budget. Is 45 low for Scotland? Thanks for your help.

Michael, thanks I will read your report.

I wouldn't bother booking anywhere in October unless there is somewhere particular that you want to stay. You can use the visitscotland book-a-bed-ahead scheme which gives you a short planning horizon.

personally I wouldn't move between Portree and Kyleakin- they are very close together.

I think you'll be roughly £30-£35 per head.

Sheila/Janis, would you not book ahead even if it is the October holiday week ?

We stayed at the Heathmount in Inverness a few months agao and liked it very much. It's a pub with a few rooms upstairs, quite near the centre. We stayed in one of the cheapest rooms which was £110 for 2 B&B and it was really nice, and breakfast was really good. It has parking.

Are you arranging things so you won't have a car in Edinburgh or Glasgow ?

"<i>45-80 poundish you mention is PP, right?</i>"

No -- that is for a double room w/ breakfast. Of course there are rare/very special places that charge £50-£80 pp, but rural B&Bs in Scotland tend to be a huge bargain.

You'll pay more in Edinburgh for the same quality -- but it is worth it to stay in the center of the city.

I agree w/ sheila there is really no need to stay in both Portree and Kyleakin. Stay longer on Skye and avoid unnecessary packing/unpacking.

The price I gave was per room, although we were given a per person price. From my perspective, prices were high. I'm used to B&Bs in the French provinces, which tend to be cheaper for equal accommodations.