I had done my research well for our first nights stay in Fort William, I wanted luxury but not too pricey. I wanted original but not too far from the train station. With every search I made the same place kept coming up top: The Crolinnhe Guesthouse. After looking at the trip advisor reviews I realised I would be silly not to book a room here. I quickly emailed Sophie the owner and booked the last room available for my desired night. I might not have gotten my first choice room but I was still confident we were going to love our stay here.
We arrived a little before our check in time of 4pm but that didn’t matter. Sophie greeted us with smiles and a warm welcome, showing us around the guesthouse before taking us up to our room. It was exactly like the pictures except better, the decoration was beautiful and the attention to detail was amazing. Before really taking it all in we headed back downstairs for tea on the front patio, I mean it would be rude not to as the sun was shining. I didn’t care that it was still suppose to be summer and I was wrapped up in my leather jacket; the view was far too distracting. After enjoying tea in a pot with matching china (always makes it taste better that way). We grabbed our things from the car and headed back to the room to settle in.
On the next visit to our room I picked up on so many things I hadn’t seen the first time: dressing gowns, local soap, shower gel and hair stuffs and an amazing candle holder in the bathroom. Once I had stopped looking around the room I found the view out of the window, it really was magnificent. On Sophie’s recommendation we wasted no time in making a dinner reservation at the Crannog Restaurant (it was very busy and she had advised making a booked). We had a few hours to kill before dinner so enjoyed the comfort of our room before a walk along the water to dinner.
The Crannog Restaurant is a seafood place right on the water of Loch Linnhe, it has beautiful views of the water and landscape from inside as well as being a sun trap. We arrived for a 6pm booking with only 1.5 hours at the table because they were so busy, luckily service was fast and this was plenty of time! The menu was full of seafood as expected but it also had a few other options. The best of the menu was on the specials board – a bowl of mussels with half a lobster on top was my boyfriends choice. I opted for the normal bowl of mussels in a garlic white sauce, we also shared the salmon trio starter. I washed my seafood dinner down nicely with some white wine and basically had to roll myself out of the door after. The portions were huge and all the food was so rich in taste and flavour – some of the freshest seafood I have ever eaten. After dinner we leisurely walked the short journey back to the guesthouse.
Wandering around the whole house again that evening it really felt like a styled ‘posh’ house with a beautiful dining room and drawing room with whisky for guest to help themselves too. After enjoying the spacious shower, wrapping myself in the huge, fluffy dressing gown and sinking in to the worlds most comfy bed. I fell asleep dreaming of breakfast in that beautiful dining room.
Morning came and as soon as I saw the view from the bathroom window I was awake. How could anyone stay asleep when you have the sunrising over the mountains to look at. The previous night we had filled out a breakfast menu choice and stated the time we wanted to eat only problem was I filled the form out before dinner….. I still wasn’t hungry from the mountain of mussels I had consumed. Despite this we were down on time at 8.15am, unfortunately the table by the window I had eyed up last night was taken. Settling for the next best table, Sophie greeted us as soon as we sat down. Breakfast was amazing, I just wish I had been able to eat more of it. Complete with tea/coffee, orange juice, toast and preservatives and our breakfast menu choices it was enough to keep me going till dinner!
Our next adventure that day was to ride the Jacobite Steam Train. As excited as I was for the journey I still did not want to check out of the beautiful guesthouse that morning, I would have happily stayed longer. The whole place was gorgeous even down to every last tiny detail, although I didn’t get my first choice room ours was still beautiful. The view, food and friendliness of Sophie made the stay even more enjoyable. This guesthouse is certainly luxurious and would normally have been completely out of my budget but every once in a while it’s nice to indulge.
Important Info: Cronlinnhe Guesthouse is £130 per a night for a double room with breakfast. It is classed as a 5* B & B which boasts some of the best trip advisor reviews in the whole of Fort William.
Crannog Restaurant is located on the water front just before the town centre and is a seafood restaurant. A meal each, with starter to share and glass of wine each cost £60 between the two of us.
Tags: Accommodation Review Eateries Review Luxury Scotland Scotland Mini Holiday United Kingdom