Baby Melissa Skye born on Saturday 29 March at 3.21am. Nearly 17 months old now, running around and...
Baby Melissa Skye born on Saturday 29 March at 3.21am. Nearly 17 months old now, running around and into everything! Not been on Ciao for a while, been busy with Melissa and part time work, hope to be back on here soon. 090909.
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We stayed at the White Heather Hotel in Kyleakin on the isle of Skye in September 2004. We liked it so much that we are going back again in September 2006.
***** THIS REVIEW IS NOW UPDATED DUE TO MY RECENT VISIT AS SOME CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE HOTEL SINCE 2004************************************
ISLE OF SKYE ++++++++++++
The Isle of Skye is off the coast of Scotland, about a 2 hour drive from Fort William. It can be reached by bridge or ferry. It is a beautiful place, with plenty of wildlife. I am not going to go into more detail as this review is not about Skye itself.
Kyleakin used to be the main point for the ferry, so when the bridge was built it changed the nature of the area a bit. There are two pubs and a hotel and several b&b's in Kyleakin. You can see the bridge and it is easy to cross back over to the mainland from here. Even better since they scrapped the bridge toll last year!
This year we used the hotel as a base to travel around Skye and also to go over to the mainland as well.
Kyleakin is a very quiet, peaceful place. The Castle Moil is part of the
landscape. A lot of wildlife can be seen in the area, such as Otters. The novel "The Ring of Bright Water" was written here and there is an otter hide and a visitors centre.
THE WHITE HEATHER HOTEL ++++++++++++++++++++++++
The White Heather Hotel is run by Gillian and Craig Glenwright and they are extremely friendly and helpful. This was our second visit and they were pleased to see us again and we spent several hours chatting about Skye and other things.
Lets get the technical facts out of the way first.
The White Heather Hotel has 9 ensuite bedrooms, all well furnished with television and Fairtrade tea/coffee making facilities. Hot chocolate is also provided along with a couple of biscuits each day. The rooms are light and airy and the eunsites have plenty of room with a shower. The television is now FreeSat from Sky, which provides a few extra channels. (Apparantly they got it as they have a lot of Americans to stay and they like to watch CNN).
There are two guest lounges, one with television, one with music system. The lounges have been updated and have a clean modern feel. There are plenty of board games available and drinks can be served upon request. There are also several books about Skye and Scotland which can be borrowed. Both lounges look out over the harbour.
Dogs are accepted by prior arrangements with the owners.
COSTS ++++++
The hotel is open from 11 March to 22 October 2006. A double room is £30 per person per night. 1 person in a twin room would be £40 per person per night.
This is very reasonable for B&B. We paid £50 to stay in a Travelodge recently and that was without breakfast. So £60 for a double room, with a great breakfast, is very good value. There usually tends to be a small discount for multiple night stays. We paid £28 each per night for 4 nights.
When we stayed we paid upon arrival. Gillian says that this is easier, otherwise she is trying to check people out and get breakfast at the same time! There was a small charge for paying by credit card, but we dont mind this as it is more convenient than having to write out a cheque.
FOOD +++++
The breakfast room overlooks the harbour and Castle Moil. Breakfast is freshly cooked to order and you preorder what you want, the night before. A card is left hanging on your door, when you select what you want for breakfast the following morning. If you want full breakfast, then there is a good choice of bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs (fried, poached, scrambled), baked beans. There is plenty of toast and more is brought if required. Little pots of jam, marmalade and honey are provided, along with Marmite. Sauces are small sachets of Heinz. Butter and Flora is provided.
A large jug of milk is provided for your cereals and tea/coffee.
There is also fresh prunes, fresh grapefruit available.
The breakfast room is very well laid out with a table for each room and plenty of cereals and juice available. There is also a fresh water dispenser. Coffee is freshly brewed and tea is brought to your table.
There are several places to eat in and around Kyleakin, which Gillian can recommend. There are also places to eat in Kyle which is back over the bridge. There is a regular bus that leaves from outside the White Heather, so you can go out to eat and have a few drinks at the same time. We did not eat in Kyleakin this time, as the Hotel has changed hands and the food did not appeal to us. Gillian can recommend anywhere on the island or the mainland.
FAIR TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gillian and Craig use Organic produce and Fair Trade products. They use environmentally friendly laundry products. Towels are changed only upon request, not on a daily basis, in order to save the planet. The hotel has a no smoking policy. (It is now against the law in Scotland to smoke in certain places).
THINGS TO DO +++++++++++++
Skye is very popular with walkers, so you might find a few of them at the White Heather. Skye is also very popular with American and German tourists.
The Bright Water visitor centre is next door and organises tours to Eilean Ban which is an otter haven.
We are not into hiking up mountains, but we drove around Skye, visiting various castles and Clan museums. There is plenty to do on the island and the scenery is breathtaking. The Aros centre at Portree is worth a visit as is Dunvegan Castle. We also visited a sheepskin tannery and the Talisker whiskydistillery. For a small island there is plenty to do. There is an otter hide at Kylerhea.
MY OPINION ++++++++++++
Every morning at breakfast we had a good chat with Gillian and she recommended places to go and see, some of which are not shown on the maps. She can advise on the roads and how you should drive as a lot of them are one-track roads. We found Gillian to be very helpful and friendly.
Our room was very clean, a little bit cramped around the bed, but that doesn't matter when you are not in the room much. We had a lovely view out over the harbour. The rooms are double glazed and there is a radiator in each room.
Craig makes a great breakfast and is a great laugh, coming out for a chat when he has finished cooking.
It is the little touches that make a difference, such as providing enough milk and butter. Each day we found that we were given more butter instead of Flora as we used all the butter each day. Toast is endless, and very moreish and you can eat it til the cows come home!
We found the hotel to be very clean, tidy and friendly and recommend it to anybody.
They have repeat customers every year which speaks for itself. We have now become them ourselves! This was our second visit and we will be going back again in another couple of years. It is a great base for island travel whilst still being close to the mainland.
We are looking forward to returning, to see Skye and to know that we will have a peaceful holiday.
WWW.WHITEHEATHERHOTEL.CO.UK
Pictures of The White Heather Hotel, Kyleakin, Skye
Goodness, I have only just discovered this review on a hotel very near to me. A smashing review, very concise and full of excellent information. Two things though: Kyleakin is pronounced Kyle-a-kin (said in a rush and altogether so it's like "Kilackin!") and not Ky-la-kin! Although Southerners do tend to say it the wrong way! And that regular bus service? *shakes head* once an hour during the day now if you're lucky.... and it's becoming very unreliable so visitors are advised to double check on their arrival. Lou x
arnoldhenryrufus 04.03.2006 16:10
sounds lovely - nices pics - lyn x
dreamkin 02.03.2006 13:27
I want to go on a backpacking tour of scotland soon, and the isle of skye is a must see!
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