Kimkim Trip Reviews for Scotland

Equivalent of a US motel along a highway

Filthy, paint peeling off walls, carpet unfurling, stairs only and no staff (concierge doubled for waiter at tiny tourbus stop cafe - only place to eat!) and in a town far out of Inverness. Worst stay ever.

Lovely but be sure to request a larger room or cramped into a space the size of a medium closet. Also, no power for a day (clearly unplanned - the entire Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides had outage) so cold morning with no provisions, warm drinks, showers or available warm meals. Lovely spot for walking but the room was tiny and, again, stairs - although did get help from a staff to carry luggage up three flights.

Outstanding in every way

Just stay here. Look no further. THE most wonderful place, people, and comforts.

Morgan is the greeter, bartender, and all around brand representative for this no nonsense spot. Whatever they pay her should be doubled. Comfortable with added convenience of the restaurant/bar. Recommend.

Beautiful hotel, I would love to have spent more time here. The hotel is furnished in beautiful antiques and woven fabrics produced locally. The pub and restaurant looked wonderful, sadly we did not get there in time to try them. The breakfast was very good and the staff were wonderful. The only note is there is no lift / elevator so it is not conducive to those travelling with a lot of luggage or mobility needs. Stairs are the only option.

The owner is a wonderful woman who is so very welcoming. She made all efforts to make us feel home as we arrived late and hungry. I would highly recommend staying here if you plan to spend some time in the inverness area. It is a great place that provides an at home feel. The rooms are spacious and very well appointed with everything you need.

The rooms are very small, you will be stepping over luggage to get around. The location is good but don't bother to stay for breakfast.

Fantastic feat in engineering, we enjoyed seeing it but the boat ride was not worth the time.

The castle is amazing. The history and views are not to be missed but book the guided tour.

We all enjoyed learning about the story behind the Kelpies. The tour was informative and being able to go inside the structure was something I will remember each time I see photos of the iconic pair.

We did not know what to expect from this tour but it was above and beyond any other tour experience. A one on one opportunity to ask all the questions and delve into any aspect of not only Bannockburn but the overall history of Scotland was fantastic. I will look for similar bookings on all of our future trips.

We all enjoyed this tour, although I believe there is room for improvement on how the mill and process works it was an enjoyable and educational experience that we would recommend.

Small issue at check in, but it was quickly resolved. We were incredibly welcome for our whole stay and loved the amenities.

Smallest room we had but functional. Great continental breakfast included. Great location.

Best traditional breakfast we had on the entire trip. Super kind staff, had a quaint little hotel bar we could visit at night. We had an issue with their shower that didn't really get handled which was unfortunate, but no big deal. Location is a 15 min walk to downtown but manageable and in a quiet part of town.

Room was extremely tight but functional. Restaurant attached was great and so was the bar/beer garden. Free parking on the street and easy to find a spot.

Very high end hotel. You will absolutely feel like royalty here. Parking lot full of Bentleys and Porches. Bring cash because you will need to tip people (doorman, concierge). Unbelievable views from the deck at the bar. Breakfast was good, service not so much. Restaurant is good but expect everything to be very expensive. The room was about 90 degrees F when we entered and there is no AC. We sweated that night but the bed was comfortable. The bathroom is incredible with the best towels and robes you'll ever use. They made us pay for the room on departure even though Jane/team had already paid, so we ended up having to get a refund.

Great location, attached to a bar/distillery. Room was very comfortable and quite spacious. Bathroom was excellent. Included breakfast is a buffet which was mediocre but good enough to tide you over until lunch.

One of our favorite hotels. Unbelievable setting, very quaint older house with a fantastic restaurant. Very comfortable bar lounge with a real fireplace, books, chess, and snooker table.

Incredible views right off the deck of the loch and mountains. The staff is extremely service-oriented. Not owned by native Scots (the entire staff is Indian), so there are lots of Indian food offerings on the menu (which were absolutely fantastic). Just a few Scottish food items on the menu. Not much to do in town but a great location for hiking and sight-seeing.

Very busy hotel because it's on the West Highland Way, so lots of backpackers passing through. Great way to meet a lot of non-native travelers from other countries. Beautiful setting with a really nice restaurant/bar. Super friendly staff. This is essentially the only hotel for 20+ miles and you are in the middle of paradise. 15 min drive to Glencoe where you will see the most incredible scenery on planet earth.

Tour guide was lovely and we met some really great people from South Africa. Great way to tour the city and try local foods/beers. Highly recommended.

Highly recommended as a great way to get around the city for very little money. Two tiered bus with upper tier having some covered and some uncovered seats. Bus comes every 15 mins to every stop until about 6p.

Extremely educated and knowledgeable tour guide! Tons of history given and his enthusiasm was second-to-none. 10/10 recommended and a fantastic way to see a large city in a short amount of time.

A must-see castle. I would highly recommend paying for a tour guide because otherwise you're just wandering around and looking at things you really don't know anything about.

We ended up driving past them but didn't have enough time to tour them. It's quite a walk from the car park (15 mins).

Great experience with the small boat that gets you to the island. Wish we had more time to explore but it was the end of the day so we had to turn around quickly.

Interesting distillery that is only a year old, so they don't actually have any of their own whiskys yet (other than blended whiskys from other distilleries).

Fantastic tour through a very old distillery with lots of history

Really great experience. You need to take a ferry to the island, and it's a 10 min walk from the ferry to the distillery.

Guide was very knowledgeable on marine life. We saw a few seals but really nothing else. Luck of the draw, I suppose. Not really sure we'd do this again.

We ended up not making this tour so I can't really comment.

Good hotel with great location. Lacked a little of the authenticity of some of the other hotels, but overall a great experience.

Great hotel, great location, authenticity was very good, staff were very friendly.

Very nice property in the heart of the city, with exceptional staff and perfect location to walk to dinner and shops.

Wonderful staff, but no lift so luggage could be difficult to carry to your room.

Nice hotel, but nothing special and didn't have a lift, so luggage was an issue and finding their parking lot was a little tricky. Television remote didn't work and staff was of no assistance.

Very attentive staff and very old Scottish feel to the hotel, but again didn't have a lift for luggage. Hotel restaurant was excellent.

Great hotel, helpful staff, perfect location. Parking was very limited, but we were lucky to get street parking each day. Overall one of the best hotels we stayed at.

A little off the beaten path, but and excellent property and the hotel staff were excellent.

Great experience, beautiful place, pretty crowded. More beautiful from the outside.

Fun short cruise. The crew and narrator was wonderful, but the cruise was so short it really didn't get great views of the Loch. It was fun, but nothing special.

Fun and informative and brought back many great memories

Beautiful location, amazing staff.

Wonderful couple ran this beautiful home. Breakfast was delicious, location was delightful!

Emma was the most fun, informative guide we have ever had-wonderful experience!

Learned so much from the talented boat captain.

A great tour with an awesome and hard working guide Rafal! The tour took us to the filming locations but was much more than “Hollywood” which we enjoyed hearing the real history behind these settings……cannot saw enough about our guide Rafal!

Excellent!

The rooms were great. The location central. We had breakfast included and the lack of heat in the breakfast offerings would be my only criticism Cold eggs, sausages and pancakes are not fun to eat.

Loved this hotel. The staff was extremely helpful. Hannah in particular was very helpful when someone in our group left a passport in the safe. Hannah wrapped it and couriered the package to our next hotel. Rooms were beautiful. Breakfast was great. Food was hot. The only drawback was distance from city centre. Cost 6-8 pounds each way to get a cab there. Consequently we ate half our suppers in the hotel restaurant

Loved this hotel. Mrs MacDuff welcomed us to her hotel and she was very helpful in helping us contact the previous hotel to arrange the retrieval of a passport left in the safe 😉. This was very clean and you felt very welcome here. The only drawback was distance from city centre! To keep breakfast hot, you got your fruit and pastries from a buffet then they cooked your eggs

We went to this hotel as part of an organized tour and arrived at 9 am. Giving my name, they had my reservation. So I left my luggage and went off to a walking tour that was planned. My first clue that there would be a problem was when I asked for direction to Prince Square. Although this is a renowned shopping and dining spot and located 4 blocks away, no one knew anything 🤔 when we came back at 3:30, our reservation was not available! It took an hour to find it and get us our keys. The girl who finally found our reservation was very nice and helpful. We were promised that our luggage would be brought right up. Went for dinner and a walk and at 8 pm still no luggage. The next day after we came back from a big sightseeing day, our card keys for both rooms were non working. Had to come back down to reception and get our room key cards re-activated! The rooms were fine but there are fire doors and steps that you have to lift your luggage up. Although included in our pricing, breakfast was very average with many empty baskets even though we were 15 minutes after opening. Never touched the hot breakfasts as they looked unappetizing. The bar area in the lobby was nice and we did have some libations there. The staff there were pleasant. The hotel does have a great location although I would not stay there again. When I tried to check out at 5 am for an airport run, there again, the staff were confused as their update happens at 5:30 am. I think they might need help with their processing of check ins and outs.

I loved this hotel! Our room was quite large and we had a bay window which overlooked the harbour. The room was well appointed and the bed was super comfortable. Breakfast was included in our pricing and they had a lovely food selection. In addition to that, they cooked your hot dishes individually. In order to perform this wonderful feat of a hot breakfast, they asked you to make a reservation in a 15 minute slot so they could be timely in their service. We had a long day of going over to Mull and came back late so ate in the hotel dining room. Had the best salmon ever. My companions also enjoyed their meals Loved thus hotel

This was over the top luxury. When we were dropped off here, I wondered if someone had made a mistake ??? Beautifully renovated , reminded me a bit of the Banff Springs hotel in Canada The rooms were gorgeous The only drawback to this hotel would be location and pricing. You are stuck in the middle of nowhere and therefore obliged to eat there. Two restaurants with food that is acceptable but not worth the exorbitant pricing. Paid an obscene amount of money for a small portion of lukewarm pasta with a few pieces of pancetta , cheese and blah seasoning. The following night we ate at the Grill and it was also exorbitantly expensive. Each entree was 40 some pounds ! My husband had the lamb and he had 3 small finger shaped pieces of lamb and a few veggies We had to order sides which 7 pounds each. The breakfast was exceptional. But if you do not have it included in your room rate, it costs 36 pounds Staying here was an experience! Everyone of the staff that we dealt with was exceptionally helpful and welcoming

Our driver had to wait for us as two of us had luggage that took 40 minutes to arrive! Then we had to walk a fair distance to where his car was parked

We had a great guide and he took us on a very informative walk through downtown Edinburgh He knew so much. My sons are big Harry Potter fans and Greyfriar cemetery was eye opening Our guide was very nice, and we liked him a lot. We could understand his Scottish accent. However he could benefit from an upgrade in his attire. He was very scruffy looking. I am not criticizing but I know some clients would be put off by his look

I reviewed the distillery tour on google already. Our guide Rafa was wonderful. He picked us up at our hotel and we drove out to Roslyn Chapel This is the chapel of Da Vinci Code. Very interesting and great to be there. We had time for a quick walk around the grounds Then our guide drove us to see another castle before our scotch tasting tour. We still had major jet lag but thoroughly enjoyed this great day. Bonus that I ran into an acquaintance from my home city in the parking lot of the chapel.

We did the food tour and it finished quite late then had trouble checking in. We regretfully cancelled this tour It probably would have been great but better if it had been scheduled the next morning

The day we did this tour, it was pouring rain in Edinburgh and we had to walk a few blocks to reach the entrance to the vaults. Upon entry, it was dark, cold and damp. The stairs are very uneven. Few handrails and it is downright spooky to be down there. Very interesting but scary our guide was great and very knowledgeable. We were a group of 4 and although my sons and I loved it, my husband did not.

This was very interesting but too long of a day We drove over 300 miles in a day long activity in a bus. We stopped at Eileen Donnan Castle for bladder and picture stop. Then we drove all the way to Portree on the isle of Skye. Had 45 minutes there. Our driver had encouraged us to order our lunches so he would get them for us to eat on the bus after Portree. There was no cruise ship there that day so we could have skipped the lunches and had more time in Portree! Seems to me that cruise ship stops are easy to plan around Trying to eat a lunch on a bus could have been avoided We drove up to Kilt Rock and the Old Man of Storr Had the chance to get out and take pictures. Scenery was amazing. Then we set out to go to Fairy Pools. I think it is ridiculous to take a huge bus up that terrible road Single lane with passing places. No shoulders and huge ditches filled with mud on either side of the road. A few caravans went in the ditch leading to huge backlogs of cars. Then we get up to this desolate spot with cold gale force winds and we are told we have 90 minutes there. Adding this part of the trip to an already too long day is ridiculous. I enjoyed being at the Isle of skye but I think this tour should be re-designed I would not recommend it as it is overly long

Pick up at 5 am went well

This was a great excursion. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. We were dropped off at a ferry with tickets in hand The Loch Ness cruise was great but quite chilly and windy. We approached Urquart Castle from the water and that approach was impressive. We could have used extra time at the castle. Never saw the film that was recommended 😢. Felt rushed with the castle visit

This was quite a long day. We started at Clava Cairns. Our guide did not really tell us anything - we just read the signs and took pictures. We then made our way to Culloden We had some time to go through the museum which was very well done. Our museum tickets were included in our excursion. My brother tour guide walked them through the Culloden fields with a history lesson on the battle. We were just left on our own. Then we drove to this spot to see highland cows - felt a bit like Mexico where tour guides take you to weird places and they get kickbacks for taking tourists there. We stopped in at a cute village called Buliey for lunch and visit. In the afternoon we drove up to Glen Affric which was a nature preserve. Beautiful scenery. There were two walks to choose We chose the River walk Cautionary tale. In order to avoid a big mud puddle on the path, I stepped off onto the grass which ended up being a bog. My leg sank into the bog to mid thigh. Luckily my travel companions were able to haul me out. But I was muddy wet and my rain boots were full of mud and moss. I come from the prairies of Canada and have no concept of bogs! I felt the guide should have warned us to keep on the trail since he continually bragged about going there often

It was cancelled by the operator due to weather but the ferries continued to run and we wish that we had been better informed of the option to take a ferry to one of the islands on our own. This was a big disappointment.

Ian is a top notch, very informative guide and excellent driver who tailored our experience to our personal needs and interests. Anyone who gets him as a guide, is very lucky.

Right in the heart of New Town! Great accommodations, and great stuff! We would stay here again for sure!

Super cute family run place. The staff was super friendly and helpful and welcoming! The food was delicious as well!

It was a bit confusing checking in, but we figured it out really quickly. We had to check in across the street from where we actually stayed.

It was very comfortable and clean. The staff was very helpful and friendly.

We fell in love with this place! The owners were so very friendly and helpful! Beautiful grounds and the rooms were so cute, and the bathrooms were updated, and everything was very clean.

It was super clean and comfortable. The beds were comfortable, and our room was very nice.

Great location in Dublin. We walked everywhere. The rooms were nice and the beds were super comfy. We would stay here again! The bar and restaurant were very good!

Highly recommended! This was the best way to see Edinburgh! Our guide was amazing and super knowledgeable.

Might have been our favorite hotel of the trip. Perfectly located for our activities. Center center, but away from the more busier, touristy sections of the city. Comfortable rooms. Great breakfast. Very helpful, friendly staff.

Wish we had more time here! Perfect for us. 3 bedrooms. Full kitchen. Washer. Very walkable to all activities, shops in Oban.

Another stand out amongst many. New-ish hotel. Great location. Friendly and helpful staff. Well located in Fort William. Minor complaint - small rooms if you are traveling with a child and need a rollaway bad or sleeper sofa. Great breakfast and bar.

Do not stay here. Location is great. But, little to no parking. If you are on a long trip and traveling with family/kids + have bags - can be a bit of a challenge. Front desk staff were rude and unfriendly. Asked for passport number and future travel plans. Terrible experience would not recommend.

Very well located in new town. Very nice, generously sized rooms. Incredibly helpful staff!

We really enjoyed this activity. Small cruise, not a lot of people. Felt more intimate, which we liked and prefer.

Please guide appropriately on timing - how early to arrive. At least an hour early if your tour is scheduled close to a train crossing time.

When possible, I'd recommend to folks try to get the first tour of the day, especially during summer (peak season). It was uncomfortably full of people at 3pm and was hard to enjoy the tour. If you can't get an earlier tour due to travel schedule, I'd probably skip if you don't like walking shoulder to shoulder and being cut off in line constantly by unaware tourists.

we unfortunately had to skip this activity as our son was sick. Imagine it would've been pretty awesome.

John took us to castles, lochs, towns and overlooks. Really great

One could spend a whole week or more on Skye. We had 2 days, which seemed like just enough. The Fairy Glen, Fairy Pools and Talisker distillery were particular highlights