The Ballachulish Hotel

I had the pleasure of staying here for a night on my recent trip to Scotland. This entire area is simply stunning. I can’t recommend visiting this area enough. The scenery is incredible. As far as this hotel, the staff is top notch and the accommodations are charming. Definitely worth a look if you are in the area.

Large fairly old fashioned hotel but efficiently run. Lovely lounge area and great view over the loch. Nesting house martins - great to see. Lots of parking space.

A pleasant stay in a hotel of character with excellent staff. So good to be able to just chill in a welcoming environment.

We stayed for 2 nights at the Ballachulish Hotel in a family room, which was a bedroom with double bed and alcove with bunks. We were a couple with 2 dogs. The location was good, on the banks of Loch Leven. Positives: We and our dogs were made to feel very welcome. The staff in the dining room in particular were friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean, and the bathroom was nice. There was a good grassy area near the car park to take our dogs in the morning and evening. Overall the grounds and setting was great. Negatives: This is a big hotel which welcomes coach parties. I do understand why that’s good business here - there are loads of great sights to see, and this is very much on the circuit. However it does mean the hotel is catering to a very different market to one we wanted to be part of. The food is very poor - in the restaurant I had a burger which had no texture at all because the meat had been puréed so much and the chips were undercooked and very unappealing. My wife’s chicken was pretty tasteless. Breakfast buffet had OK bacon, very unpleasant sausages, and the coffee tasted like there wasn’t any actual coffee in it. If you stay here make sure you pre-book your preferred breakfast time, assuming you want it. When we check in, we were told we had to have a time later than we wanted because they had to accommodate 2 coach parties before us. I understand that for dinner, but for a breakfast buffet?? Our room was above the kitchens so at 6am the kitchen’s industrial-strength extractor fans came on, the noise from which came through our room. We opened the windows because the room was hot, and the room filled with the smell of cooking in the morning and evening. The thing is, it’s pretty expensive for what you get. We ate across the loch one evening at Loch Leven Seafood Café and had food that was a totally different league yet didn’t cost much more. I have never previously left a negative hotel review, but we stayed at Ballachulish hotel on the basis of the good reviews and the idyllic looking pictures on their website. I wish we’d known a bit more about the hotel first and then we’d have chosen a smaller place which catered to a slightly different market. I fully appreciate that there are no doubt many happy customers passing through this hotel, and it may just be our personal preferences which differ, but it’s not the place for me.

While it enjoys a lochside setting, and you want to like it, we had a disappointing experience. The hotel's interior is worn, and things felt a bit sticky throughout, including the stairwell, reception areas, room doors, and the dining room. The bath is challenging, including getting in and out of the shower (but the bathroom has been modernized). The overall disappoin**ent includes the need for more customer service and better food quality at the hotel, including dinner and breakfast.

We had a very nice stay. The rooms were tidy and had great views. The staff was very courteous and attentive. The breakfast was amazing.