So we managed a short 3 night break at the Corran Hotel on Loch Linnhe (for 2 nights) and then the Kingshouse Hotel in Glencoe (for 1 night). We haven’t managed away as often this year with the way things have worked out, but that’s us hopefully now getting some trips in again. We have stayed at the Corran several times before as we find it is in a good location for kayaking with easy launching from the ferry slip, and it is also a good place to break up a longer journey further north.

With the Kingshouse, we have driven past it so many times, but never actually stayed there, so this one was a first for us. The location is so stunning, we asked ourselves why it took us so long to have an overnighter there.

THE CORRAN

As mentioned earlier, we have stayed here on several occasions. It’s just over 2 hours from home, making it a good location for a short break away. The hotel is great value and very comfortable (with a spacious seating area) and in a superb location both for kayaking on Loch Linnhe and visiting the Ardgour Ales Brewery on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula (a 5 minute ferry crossing away). There is also plenty of walking in the area including Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, plus 2 nearby ski resorts (Glencoe & Nevis Range) for any ski or snowboard enthusiasts.

This time we stayed in the Corran Junior Suite, which is upstairs and has a “Juliet balcony” overlooking the loch, having previously always stayed in the Corran Suites which are a bit bigger and have big balconies out front overlooking the loch. The junior suite was great, but we prefer the main suites for both ease of access and the balconies (and they also have a small pull-out dining table and chairs should you wish to bring back a take-away). A small breakfast is supplied in the fridge, although the rates are advertised as “room only”. The hotel has always done this since we started staying. They leave you a muffin and yogurt each, orange juice, milk, tea, coffee etc. It’s actually very nice.

It’s always worth looking to see if your room was booked the night before your arrival (and day after departure) as the owner is very good at allowing and early check-in (sometimes as early as noon) and/or late check-out if you ask and it is feasible.

Unfortunately the restaurant is currently closed (it has been for as long as we have been visiting the hotel) and Roam West (the only one we know of within walking distance) was closed too. So that leaves the option to drive to Onich, Ballachulish or Fort William or to take the Corran ferry across the water to either eat in the Inn at Ardgour or have pizza (Friday nights & Sunday afternoons only) at the Ardgour Ales Brewery. We have always chosen the latter as their pizzas are great and Paul likes to pick up a selection of their beers to bring back.

As we arrived on a Friday night, we had decided to pop over on the ferry to Argour for pizzas. These can either be taken away or eaten in the undercover outside area heated by firepits. The brewery is about 15-20 minutes walk from the ferry (turn right when you walk off). On all of our previous visits the ferry was free to foot passengers, but we were rather shocked to find out that they now charge £2 per person each way (£4 return), also much to the frustration of the local businesses on the peninsula.

The owner of the brewery said that we should ask to hitch a ride in one of the local’s cars that were crossing as they don’t pay any extra for passengers. We were a bit embarrassed to ask, but in the end we did. We knocked on the window of an SUV thinking that this would probably be a local. Only it was an American tourist! However, the kind lady let us hitch a lift with her and we saved £4 going over. On the return ferry ride we did get a local, so it was a little less embarrassing, and now £8 saved. Of course, had it not been for the short days, we would have just kayaked over like we did the last time, but we didn’t fancy kayaking in the dark (and rain!)

The next day we woke up to see the loch was flat calm. The clouds were very low, and there was a 50/50 chance of rain according to the forecast, but it was looking pretty good, so we decided to go out in the kayak.

We launched at the slip once the ferry had departed and headed in the direction of Loch Leven & Ballachulish. Our kayak was moving fast, with little effort, and we realised that despite the loch looking flat and calm, there was a very strong current pulling us. This had never happened to us here before, so we aren’t sure why it was particularly strong this time.

Anyway, we decided it would be wise to turn around and head in the other direction against the current, and have a nice easy paddle back later on. Well, we turned the kayak around and I kid you not, we were paddling forwards but going backwards!! Woops!

Luckily we managed to cut across to the other side of the loch where the current wasn’t as strong, and we headed in the direction of Fort William for a while, past the fish farms (gosh, these poor fish going demented trying to get out, I swore I wouldn’t eat farmed fish again). As the loch widened there was much less of a current, so it was no problem crossing back over further up before we headed back. Our timing was both good and bad. If we had got back 10 minutes earlier we would have missed the rain, on the other hand, if we had headed out much later and the rain came on when we were further away, then we would have been ever more soaked.

After changing into drier clothes, we chilled for the rest of the day, and enjoyed some “tapas” nibbles that we had brought with us for Saturday’s dinner.

THE KINGSHOUSE

After checking out of the Corran (we were told there was no rush to vacate the room, which was great as the weather was quite dreich), we headed to the car park near the Isles of Glencoe hotel on Loch Leven, to see if it was worth going in for a short paddle. However, the water was quite choppy and the rain was on, so we decided against it. Instead we parked in Glencoe village (there’s a few free parking spaces on the street) and walked up to and around the small Glencoe Lochan, which is a pretty & very easy walk to do (and lovely for photography in better weather).

We then decided to do the drive along Glen Etive (one of, if not the, most beautiful glen in Scotland). The drive was surprisingly busy for the time of year, I guess word must be getting around. Even in dreich weather, we got some lovely photos, and once we reached the end of the road (at the head of Loch Etive) we popped in for a short paddle.

By the time we had done all of that, and driven back to the main road and up to the Kingshouse Hotel, we were just at the right time to check in. At this point, it is worth mentioning that there is also the cheaper option of booking a bed in the Bunkhouse where there is limited self-catering (according to the website the kitchen has a fridge, kettle, toaster and microwave, no mention of an oven).

The room we originally booked in the hotel was the standard guest room, £125 for a “Sunday night special” bed and breakfast. However, we received an email (I suspect it was sent in error?) offering us an upgrade to a Feature or Signature room for a very tempting supplement. We mulled it over and decided to go for the upgrade to the Signature room, so we emailed back to ask to arrange this. The next day I received a reply to say there were no Signature rooms left, but we could still upgrade to a Feature room, which apparently now costs more, but they would stand by their initial offer???

We declined and decided to stick with the basic guest room. However, I noticed much nearer to our stay, that there was a Signature room coming up as available on the website, so I emailed back to tell them I had noticed this and ask if their offer still stood. They sent me a link to upgrade and pay the extra and that was it done! We were super excited as these rooms have a big balcony with views to the mountains, they also have a huge lounge area with 2 big sofas, coffee table etc. And even better, when we checked in we found out there was bathrobes, slippers, 2 mini bottles of gin, tonics, savoury biscuits, a bowl of fruit etc! We asked reception if there were “free” and we were told that everything put in the room is free. So we really got a great deal from that upgrade. It would be fair to say, that combined with the view and location, this was right up there with one of the best places we have ever stayed!  

Once we had brought our bags up to the room, we went back down to the grounds where there were 3 stags roaming – apparently they are there most days! You can get very close to them, but if you get too close they will dip their heads and show their horns to you as a warning not to get any closer.

When another guest offered me a carrot to feed them, I couldn’t resist. The stag came right up and took it from my hand. (The next day we cut up an apple and fed a bit to all 3 of the stags, who had returned again the next morning).

It was so exciting to get up so close to these stags, we had previously seen some photographs people had posted on social media, so we knew there would be a fairly good chance that we would see them as they seem to live in the area near the hotel.

For dinner, we splashed out in the restaurant (it is fairly expensive, £30 for my fish main and £29 for Paul’s steak; there were no cheap options, nothing less than £24). The food was good, though we only had a main course each. They could have done with at least one other vegetarian option, and maybe some fish and chips and/or burger option, but that was just our opinion. The beer and wine we had was lovely, and not that expensive compared to similar restaurants. The Romanian pinot grigio was lush!

Once we finished dinner, we took our drinks into the bar to finish them as it was a bit busier and more atmospheric than the restaurant, plus the fire was roaring.

For the rest of the evening we enjoyed the beautiful room, and popped out now and again onto the balcony in the hope that the clouds might have cleared and perhaps the northern lights might make an appearance (they didn’t).

The next day we had breakfast in the restaurant, it was buffet style which surprised us as we expected the hot food to be made to order in such a posh hotel. However, it was mostly nice (except the potato scones, which Scottish hotels always seem to deep fry), and filled us up.

Check-out was 11am, which is great as most places are 10am, so it was nice to have that extra time. We had a walk around the grounds afterwards for a while to take photos and see the stags again. Then into the bar for a drink before heading home.

A couple of photo stops on the way home, the one below was taken at the turnoff off for the ski resort. The weather had much improved by Monday, and there were lots of periods where the clouds shifted to show up some blue sky.

Final thoughts … we can’t wait to return to the Kingshouse. I’m sure we will revisit the Corran again, but the Kingshouse will be on our radar now too, certainly in the off-season when the prices are low. Maybe we will even get lucky with another room upgrade, although I doubt we will get that lucky twice!

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