My husband and I stayed here for two nights.

This is a good hotel if you want a central location. Although could be a bit noisy if you had a room facing into the centre, we had a room facing the river which was good.

The hotel is currently undergoing refurbishment and we were lucky enough to have a room which had already been done, and it was lovely, with up to date brown furniture, the only thing that didn't seem to have been done properly was the bathroom, (the edging of the bath was a bit roughly finished!) One of the things I liked in the room was the iron attached to the wall, I have gone to many hotels where you have had to request an iron and by the time it's been delivered to the room, I've already gone out!

We requested breakfast in our room on the first morning, my husband was running the Loch Ness Marathon, so had to be away earlier than when the breakfast started in the dining room. Room service was on time and was very good, everything we ordered was supplied in generous portions.

The carpark is very small, we got parked when we first got there, but after being away in the car on the first evening, there was no spaces available and we had to park in a carpark about 5 mins walk away, so that was a bit annoying, although we did get parked at the hotel the second day. From what I saw, I suspect the car park is used by non hotel users, as it is very handy for the shops! The only way they would probably be able to stop that, is to have a barrier.

All the staff we encountered were very friendly and helpful.

I cannot compare this hotel to others in Inverness, but overall, we were pleased with it.

My wife booked a fairly expensive long weekend at this hotel in particular as it was the best in town (when it was called the 'Caley') at the time she left 20 years ago.

How things have changed. I'm not harping back to how things were better in the good old days, but more about how the service in a hotel of it's standing compares with others now. It is definitely not the best hotel any more - my wife asked for (and was promised) a room overlooking the river and I must give them credit for giving us one one the right side of the building.

Trouble was, you couldn't see the river for the back of the function suite and kitchen staff sitting on the steps having a smoke.
The breakfast was fine, although some of the Scottish fare you would expect was missing. The menu for the evening meal looked fairly standard so we went to a really good restaurant we know just round the corner called The Mustard Seed (you have to try it).

The staff were fantastic - even though they had a wedding reception and 2 coach parties arrived on the Saturday evening, the front desk girls always helped out. The waitresses were polite and although the barman seemed a bit dim in putting ginger ale in ginger beer & lime he was pleasant as well.

The Caley (as I shall continue to call it) has a very good central location and apparently it is undergoing a refit, but more still needs to be done. I won't write it off, but there are other hotels in Inverness...

stayed June 2006: great central location but very tired and shabby room. breakfast was poor also. disappointing stay.

Stayed here for one night in June 2006.

Room had peeling wall paper, bath room had a lot of mold. Beds were awful. On the whole very disappointing for such a large hotel chain.