Having been to Fort William before and having experienced the long haul into town from a remote B&B, the main objective of my second visit was to find somewhere central to stay.

The West End hotel is situated at the end of Fort William's main shopping street, 5 minutes from the main pubs and restaurants. The hotel is adjacent to a busy roundabout, but far enough away from the road to eliminate any real traffic noise. The position allows attractive views of the harbour and Loch Linnhe (from some rooms.) My room overlooked the car park, with an oblique view of the waterfront. I was very pleased with the hotel location; while there were a couple of hotels located right on the main street, I think that the noise from the pubs and clubs and people fighting in the street might have been a nuisance. There were no such problems slightly further out of town at the West End.

The hotel has a very lively old-style bar and conservatory restaurant, giving the place a warm and busy atmosphere as you enter, as well as a fairly helpful staff member at the front desk who offered to show us the room before we booked it. First impressions were therefore good, and we sprinted up the stairs to view the room.

The room. While the slightly grubby, chipped paint look did not offend in the bustling bar and reception, in the cold light of room 39 where no accordion music could distract, it really hit home that this hotel was striving to put the "dank" into, "no danke!" To be fair, while being a little gloomy, outdated and rough around the edges as far as the furniture and fittings go, the room was very clean, and the bathroom looked immaculate and modern, at least compared to the room.

In the end it was the location that swayed us and we agreed to take the room. It was clean, had four walls and a roof, and bucketfulls of run down seaside resort charm. The TV did not work properly, other guests were noisy, and I could not sleep for the BOOMING bass from the dance downstairs until 1am. I was later shocked to discover it was an old folks ball type thing, because there was literally wall shaking volume.

In another town, at another time, I may have looked for another hotel. At £65 a night for a twin it did by no means come cheaply. But as I chilled on that polyester bedspread and watched "The X Factor," in black and white on my little colour TV, I realised nothing says Fort William like the West End hotel. If you want to be immersed in that Scottish atmosphere, if you want to live the dream on a drizzling night at end-of-the-line Fort William, then choose the West End Hotel.