missmlt

Does anyone have any information on this B&B? I have been booked into this guest house by a tour company and I am unable to find any information or reviews on it. Tour company has only given limited information saying it is a double bed with ensuite, and a vague address, but that is the only information I have.

historytraveler

I'm not familiar with it but that doesn't necessarily mean anything as there are hundreds of B&B's on Skye. Portree, however, has only a dozen or so within the town itself. I'm not familiar with it but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Are you sure they gave you the correct name? I would be concerned that your tour company has given you so little information. Many B&B's do not have websites, but they all have email addresses for contact purposes. I'd insist they (tour company) provide you with further information especially as to address etc.

BTW what tour company is it?

janisj

Are you sure it is a guest house? The only Woodpark (no Wood Park) that comes up is a self catering rental property.

Weird tour company that won't give you details.

missmlt

I saw the listing for the self catering property which is why I requested more info from them. They assure me it is a double ensuite with breakfast. The address they gave me is Wood Park, Dunvegan rd, Portree, Isle of Skye IV51 9HQ. Tour company is Rabbies. When I expressed concern that I couldn't find it anywhere they said it was probably a small family run with no website. So then I asked for the address.

I've planned every other aspect of my trip with lots of research and reading tons of reviews, it makes me anxious to have so little information on this hotel. I only have 2 nights on Skye, I just want to make the most of it.

janisj

Rabbies is a long established and well known company sothat wouldn't worry me.

But the 'other' Woodpark is also on Dunvegan Rd. Perhaps the owners have turned their self catering cottage into a small B&B??

missmlt

Rabbies tells me the B&B has been open since May, and that is is one of the nicest in Portree. However it is a 15 minute walk to town and does not have a view of anything. They have offered to allow me to book my own B&B if I wish.

We will be on tour during the day on the first day getting into Portree in the evening. Second day on Skye we will be touring the island, then staying the night and leaving in the morning to go back to Edinburgh.

That being said, would having no view and the distance to town bother you? Do you think it would be better to have something in town with a view of the harbor? Given the time we have there I am not sure if we will mind not having the view (or the walk for that matter). I just don't want to regret the decision after we get there. What do you think?

adrienne

I would think about how much time you'll be spending in your room looking out the window at the view. Whenever I have a view I only look at it for a few minutes except one time at Lake Como.

You don't say when you're going to Scotland but if you're touring all day you may return to Portree after dark and there would be little to see except the lights from the harbor.

You could ask the tour director to drop you off on the return to the hotel, gaze at the view, and then you'd only have to walk one way back to the hotel.

I would stay with the tour group in the same hotel as you're bound to have more fun that way. It will complicate things if you book a different B&B on your own.

missmlt

I believe they spread out the guests among different B&B's so we may or may not be staying with other people on our tour (small group tour). But yeah, that was my issue on how much the view would matter. We are travelling in late October so it would likely be dark fairly early.

historytraveler

Janisj echoed my thoughts in regards to Rabbies. As to the view, adrienne may have a point; it really comes down to how important it is to you. Does the B&B or Rabbies provide evening meals? If not I'd want to be closer to town and restaurants. A 15 minute walk is fine in good weather but not so much if it's raining. I've stayed in Portree several times usually at the Cuillin Hills Hotel and have had rooms with a view and without. Honestly, I don't think it really made much dfference.

sullyw

I am also booked there with Rabbies and have no information on the place. What did you think of it? and how close to Portree is it? Thanks!!!

janisj

Sullyw: Unfortunately miss it hasn't been back to fodors since lady year. Picked our brains and never came back - which happens.

I wouldn't worry too much though. Rabbies is a well run/respected company. The place is probably fine.

janisj

Oops - that should be missmit . . . Darn iPad auto correct

wutthis

We did a tour of the Isle of Skye with Rabbie's in July 2016 and stayed at the Woodpark Guesthouse in Portree, Skye. Rabbie's is a professional company and our tour guide Gill was amazing. We highly recommend Rabbie's.

However, our stay at Woodpark Guesthouse, booked through Rabbie's, was extremely bad. While the place was comfortable, we believe that the owner Angus was a selfish and unprofessional entrepreneur, and do not encourage any of you to stay at this place.

- Our family paid for 2 rooms for 2 nights.
- After the first night, our daughter accidentally dirtied a small spot on the bed in one of the rooms as she was having a period.
- In the next morning, she cleaned up the bedsheet with a small amount of water and soap, and was able to clean everything up completely because it was just a small spot. The only problem was that the mattress and bedsheets were still wet when we left the room because we had to rush out for the morning tour and didn’t have time to dry it out. She was planning to dry it out when we returned from the day tour.
- While we were on the tour, Gill our tour guide got a call that the B&B owner Angus was very unhappy with the mattress that got wet and wanted get rid of the guest who did this from his place for the 2nd night.

We understand that this situation was caused by us, but we felt we were very reasonable on our part in dealing with this matter: We offered to compensate the owner for the damage. He wanted to charge us 100 pounds for the mattress and we paid for it.

What was very mean of him though, was the fact that he still demanded our daughter to vacate out for the 2nd night to find another hotel in Portree, treating her like an animal. This was where we felt he was extremely unreasonable. One side of the mattress was still completely dry and sleep-able. We felt we still earned the right to sleep in the room given that we had already paid for the night and he said he was going to throw away the damaged mattress anyway. He kept saying that "I cannot allow this. I don't want to take any more risks with this guest". But what risk was he taking exactly when we offered to sleep on a "damaged mattress" that he said he "would throw away" anyway? It almost sounded discriminatory.

We know it was his house and understand why he was frustrated. But is it reasonable to kick a female guest out like that? As a customer, we should have the right to use the space that we paid for, especially when we already compensated for the damages and had paid for the second night. As someone who operates an accommodation business, he should also anticipate that these kinds of incidents can happen with any guest. A professional American couple who was also staying at Woodpark that night shared the same sentiment that the owner was completely ripping us off.

This was supposed to be a nice family trip but our daughter was banned from staying with us for the night and had to move out and pay for an extra night at another hotel in Portree. Thanks to Rabbie's help, we were able to find a last minute room during such a busy period in Portree. If we weren't able to find another hotel, our daughter would have had no place to stay for the night (in which the B&B owner Angus inhumanely said to my daughter "that's not my problem").

To future guests who may plan to stay at the Woodpark Guesthouse in Portree: I strongly suggest you to reconsider. We do think the owner intended to take advantage of the situation in a very unprofessional way, ripping off his guests who came from far away and had no negotiation power. Who knows how he will treat future guests in other situations? You are better off booking elsewhere.