After ferrying from Stornoway to Ullapool, we needed lodging on the western side of northern Scotland. We found The Newton Lodge and Tom called and booked two nights. As I planned our holiday, I noticed this hotel listed in the DK Great Britain book. I don’t typically book things from popular guide books as they seem to lose their charm. We decided to risk it anyway. We arrived at the hotel just before 7pm—and dinner is served AT 7pm. Whew, glad we didn’t stop anywhere else or we would have gone hungry. Dinner was served by two Polish students—both on internship programs for the hotel industry. Both nights our dinners were outstanding. The only downside—no options—you get what is served on that day’s menu.
All guests were British, save for a Norwegian man and his elderly mother on a driving tour of Scotland and they were a hoot. After dinner the lodge offered coffee in the conservatory. Eight of us sat in the conservatory and the others visited in the lounge area. This Norwegian guy and his mother made us laugh for a good hour. The others didn’t do much speaking at all, especially the women. They all seemed pretty uptight. We skipped this part of the evening the second night—our entertainment source left that morning.
Our ground-floor deluxe room had a four-poster bed and seemed to be the nicest room in the lodge. Our only complaint was the typical electric shower—it wasn’t working properly. It was leaking all down the side, everywhere but on our heads. The owners were notified.
The lodge sits up on a hill and overlooks a loch. The Lodge provides you with a telescope to view the seals basking in the sun on the rocks. There really is nothing else out in this area, no wonder the Polish girls felt extremely isolated—“Great for tourists, not so great for those living here”. We went for a walk the second night since we were back at the hotel an hour before dinner. There were goats on the hill at the end of the driveway. We circled around and the goats were watching us from a distance. As we walked back down the driveway I turned around and the goats were running up right behind us. It scared me and I broke into a run to get on the other side of the cattle guard. They must belong to the neighbours because I found them waiting next to the food bin looking at me longingly.
Overall, this is a wonderful place to stay if you want to really get away from it all. It is a small lodge in the middle of nowhere. They offer half-board for your convenience (I don’t know where you would find another place to eat around here?). Our room was clean and comfortable and the food was wonderful.