Short stay: Canowindra B&B, Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK
Run by Rick and Georgie de Boer (son-in-law and daughter to the owners of Peinmore House next door), Canowindra B&B lies on the outskirts of Portree on the Isle of Skye. This luxury bed and breakfast is overlooked by Ben Tianavaig with stunning views of the Cuillin mountain range to the south and the Old Man of Storr to the north.
The welcome
We were greeted by Rick in the hallway, completed a spot of paperwork and were shown to our room. He kindly offered to help us with our bags but we were fine.
The room
The rooms at Canowindra are all individually designed. We were staying in one called ‘Whispa’s’.
The rooms are a good size, beautifully furnished and with a very comfortable bed. This proved to be the most reliable in-room WiFi we’d had on our trip so far, which was much-needed since I was facing a growing backlog with emails and work.
The location is really peaceful – we slowly fell asleep to the repeated hoots of an owl outside.
The bathroom
Our bathroom was equipped with a sink, deep bath and separate shower with floor-to-ceiling tiles, all very nicely done.
The supplied toiletries came from Arran Aromatics and the Isle of Skye Soap Company.
The facilities
Canowindra’s drawing room is a lovely light room in which to relax.
At breakfast we were able to make a healthy start to the day and help ourselves to a range of cereals and fresh fruit.
The photograph probably doesn’t do justice to the cooked breakfast, because all I ordered was the award-winning Stornoway black pudding, mushroom, poached egg and tomatoes, but you could go for the full Scottish breakfast if you preferred.
During the day, the breakfast room doubles up as a tearoom, open to both residents and non-residents alike, that prides itself on using local produce.
Other nice touches
Homemade biscuits were in our room on arrival…
…and a selection of DVDs was available for guests’ use. (The TVs in the rooms have built-in DVD players.)
Cost
B&B rates start from £145 per night for two people sharing.
The final verdict
A lovely B&B with friendly hosts. How they manage to juggle young family and running such a successful operation, I don’t know, but they somehow pull it off.
Disclosure: The above formed part of a luxury Scotland mountain bike trip sponsored by Caledonian MacBrayne, Ridgeback and Madison.
Hi Paul,
This looks like a proper little, quaint B and B. Lovely. The breakfast looked awesome; so much fresh fruit, and all the basics were down.
Whether doing the B and B or hotel think breakfast is a big thing for me. Usually we’re staying at hotels and only spend the night. Early flights mean you’re missing breakfast as we’re usually on the road by 4 or 4:30 in the morning. When I do have a proper breakfast I feel amazing.
I recall a wonderful spot in Bangkok. Yep very different than Scotland, but the hotel was a luxury, first class spot and the breakfast was so comprehensive, with Western Style fare as well as Thai fare if you wanted it.
Nothing like a proper meal to start the day.
Thanks so much Paul. Tweeting now.
Ryan
Thanks for sharing, Ryan… I appreciate it. And yes, it was a great breakfast. I was tempted to have the ‘full works’ with the cooked option, but we’d been travelling for more than a week by this point, and all these lovely cooked breakfasts start to take their toll!