I can only endorse the previous writer's comments about the Highlander at Newtonmore - there is nothing there I could disagree with. My wife and I also wanted a first class bus tour and INSIGHT was recommended. The Highlander is the "pits" but I didn't blame the hotel - I blamed INSIGHT TOURS. I was so incensed by the standard of the so called "first class" room I took the pix attached.

I wrote to INSIGHT and complained bitterly about the standard of the selected accommodation (after we completed our holiday). Other than the Marriott (Edinburgh), the INSIGHT selected hotels were one or all of shabby, cheap, noisy, grubby and smelly.

Their letter in response was pathetic and defended the indefensible. They even insulted me by offering AUD$100 off the next trip with them.

The only way I would travel with INSIGHT ever again would be if they were the last bus out of a war zone.

If you've ever stayed in a tired roadside motel in the heartland of America you will recognize the experience in this Scottish Highlands venue. It's just adequate, mind you, but you'll be glad to hear the door slam when you leave. As an example, there's no tub in the bathroom, but a tiny plastic shower just barely big enough to turn around in and a drizzle of water coming out of a shower head positioned for the convenience of an elf.
The "traditional Scottish dinner" is a complete bust, with indifferently prepared food. I suspect the legendary "Scottish thriftiness" trumps any graciouness and hospitality in the kitchen. The breakfast includes the usual British fare, but rather poorly cooked and presented. Unlike most British hotels, which offer a generous buffet breakfast, at this hotel you are brought only what they allow you to eat. This hotel is really a motel and is just barely adequate for sleeping for one night only! We stayed there as part of a tour group, so I don't know what the room cost, but it ain't worth much!

We wanted a First Class luxury coach tour of Scotland so our travel agent recommended Insight Tours. Insight Tours rates the Highlander as "Moderate First Class" whereas the Highlander Hotel rates itself as a two star budget hotel. Which is correct? One of our tour group stated he felt that the hotel was one step up from a tent trailer.
Newtonmore is a small town with one general store - unfortunately the Highlander Hotel is at least a fifteen minute walk from this small store and it doesn't claim otherwise: The Highlander Hotel is obviously not "centrally located" in Newtonmore. The Insight Tours brochure states the Highlander Hotel is surrounded by dramatic countryside - it might be true but none of it is apparent from the hotel. It is a basic hotel, not near civilization - apparently it is used by groups of skiers in the winter and summer guests are a bonus to the hotel.
Our room was well-furnished in that it had two double beds, a desk and chair, two armchairs sharing a table, plus a kettle with coffee & tea and biscuits. Although the room might have been clean, the bedspread and carpeting looked well used as were the mattresses. The bathroom was a very small compartment which had a four foot by four foot shower, and it had a sink with tiny counterspace, and it had a toilet: the linoleum floor was squeeky and felt spongy. Again, it might have been clean but it did not seem it. Don't rely on there being any shampoo in the shower's dispenser.
My overall impression of the rooms was "grungy" and worn out.
The building itself was poorly constructed. We could easily understand the conversations in the room below, and the two adjacent rooms - plus we knew when the persons in the rooms at the other end of the hall were talking - almost like I imagine a hostel would be. I believe this wouldn't matter to skiers for their apres-ski parties but it is annoying for persons expecting a First Class hotel. I would rate the Highlander as a below-basic tourist class hotel (at least by North American standards).
If you are dining in the Highlander (which is highly likely if you are trapped there by the tour company), be prepared to go to dinner early or else the choice items (venison) on the menu will not be available so the only choices will be fish or pork (or vegetarian spaghetti). Service is good in the dining room but don't rely on there being pepper in the pepper shaker or salt in the salt shaker. One good thing about the dinners is the selection of desserts - all five are delicious!!!
Be aware that if you are having "a Traditional Scottish Dancing and Singing with Haggis & Bagpipes" dinner, this means a Scotman will play the accordian and sing loudly while you are having your dinner - conversation with your tablemates is therefore difficult. The traditional Scottish Dancing will be done by you, the dinner patrons.
The buffet breakfast is interesting. When you enter the room, the serving tables only have juices and dry cereals on them - because of the ambience of the hotel, most persons do not have a hard time believing this will be all there is for breakfast. After you have had your fill of cereal and are ready to leave, a waitress will run up to your table with a plate of fried potato wedges, a fried tomato, a fried egg, a sausage, a slice of ham, and toast. She will ask you if you want a "hot plate". Those that did accept a "hot plate" did not eat much of it as it was too salty for North American tastes.
I do not know if the other hotels in the region are any better but Kingussie is a larger town, about 3 miles away from the Highlander Hotel - it would probably be a better location for someone wanting to stay overnight in this area.