I stayed at the Caledonian for about a week in May 2007. While Ullapool is a wonderful place, the hotel was disappointing. Prior to my visit, I was actually looking forward to staying at a "historic" hotel in town and found its mild resemblance to Fawlty Towers to be somewhat entertaining. The hotel is not nearly as bad as Fawlty Towers, but also not nearly as funny.

My room had 2 twin beds and a desk/ bureau + chair crammed into the room. There are many amentities you may like that are not there (telephone, hairdrier, ironing board, etc.)- but none of that really bothered me. There is a tea kettle, tea, and some shortbreads. Unlike descriptions in previous postings, I found the bathroom to be very clean. The carpets could have been cleaned better, but the room was not bad in the cleanliness department. The view from my room was of a tiny alley and some sheds- although I understand that other rooms had very nice views.

The worst part of the experience for me was the security and quietness of the room. When I went to check in to the hotel, the front desk staff did not have a key for me. They had to track down housekeeping staff to find my key. There was apparently only one for my room. So when I left each day, I needed to leave my key with the front desk if I wanted cleaning. Some other rooms in the hotel had multiple keys, but I was not the only one in this situation. So one assumes that previous patrons or housekeepers walked off with the extra key(s) and they have never been replaced. That left me feeling a bit insecure in my room; however, honestly a key would not really be neccessary to get into the room because the door did not have anything resembling a decent lock. The door did not fit on its frame properly, so that ANYONE walking in the hallway would cause the door to rattle so hard that it sounded like someone was knocking and/or pounding at the door. It took me a few days to quit jumping up to see who was at the door. Needless to say, this may sleeping difficult, but I never had to worry about an alarm clock.

The breakfast was fine, but nothing exciting. The bistro on the other side of the building seemed to specialize in bland food and strange attitudes by the staff (some extremely shy who seemed nervous to seat us at a table and others who were overbearing and somewhat confrontational in their humor). Overall, I would rate the food as edible, but not exciting and overpriced.

Overall, the Caledonian was not so bad that I felt like leaving, but not the type of place I would want to revisit. There seemed to be many lovely looking B&B's in Ullapool, so I would likely try one of those. The Caledonian may have been a budget option in the winter, but in May, it was fairly averaged priced (42 pounds/ night for one person).

Mr T Baillie-Johnston Stenhousemuir central Scotland
22nd February 2007

My wife and I have just recently returned from a 3-night dinner bed and breakfast stay at the Caledonian Hotel in Ullapool, which we booked through Easybreaks at an amazing special offer price of £115-98p for the two of us. We were not quite sure what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised to find the room which was on the 2nd floor was well decorated and very clean with a view over looking the harbour and Loch. We had our meals in the Bistro bar lounge, which is also open to the public. The meals were of a very high standard with a choice of 4 for each of the 3 courses on the menu, the staff were friendly and efficient as were the reception staff.
Ullapool is a small town with not much to do but the surrounding countryside has some of the most breathtaking scenery in Scotland. We had a great break and would certainly recommend and return to this hotel and area again

Got a two night deal from easy breaks at this hotel We were only 80 for two people DBB. Lovely drive from Inverenss, The hotel has aged gracefully and is in the process of being updated. The bistro and bar areas have been modernised. The rooms are clean and functional but are not updated yet.

The staff were friendly and helpful and the food in the bistro was first class. I would return there again.

We often stay at the Caley Hotel for a couple of night in the winter when easybreaks offers it at unbeliveable prices.

Away from the peak christmas and new year period you get to eat in the Caley Restaurant/Bistro rather than the large coach-tour diningroom. Its very nice surroundings and the food is always excellent.

This Jan it cost £46 per person for TWO NIGHTS DINNER, BED and BREAKFAST i.e £23 a night! For that you got a three course dinner with about three choices for each course (mains included for example - seabass and roast beef).

We always find the staff very friendly and helpful. The rooms have also always been nicely decorated and clean and tidy. Some areas of the hotel are a little tired (mainly the corridors and reception area), however, you have to be rather mean hearted to complain too much about that considering what you are likely to be paying.