I love that Wow Scotland is a small company and they have employees like Andrew!! He was so much…read morefun; so knowledgeable and entertaining! I learned a lot about Scotland's history. The Fairy Pool tour was a great experience. We ordered lunch when we got on the bus. Wow Scotland works with Isle of Skye Baking Company; my sandwich and cupcakes were incredible!! The stops along the way were well planned; lots of bathroom breaks and great photo opportunities.

Absolutely loved the Isle of Skye Ultimate Tour! Murdoch and Andrew were fantastic guides -…read moreknowledgeable, funny, and super friendly. The bus is new and it's very comfortable. The scenery was just unbelievable, and they took us to some amazing hidden spots off the beaten path. The whole day felt relaxed and well-paced. Easily one of the best tours I've ever done. Highly recommend I saw a previous review that indicated that you may not get to see the fairy pools due to the road. That has been redone and it's smooth sailing.

Wonderful experience and a great tour of the area with John MacKellaich, who was able to provide…read morelots of history and answer every question we posed. Booked a day trip for our first full day in Inverness, which was an ideal orientation for the area. John also recommended restaurants, offered great tips on places to go, things to do in the immediate area and other places for the remainder of our itinerary in other parts of Scotland. Tour favorites were Culloden Battlefield, the woolen mill at Elgin, the Elgin Cathedral, the ring cairn at Clava and the distillery tour at Glen Moray. Highly recommend John - we will use his services again on our next trip to Scotland.

From the owner: I provide Professional Tour Guiding services (Driver/Guiding) in Scotland and the Highlands of…read moreScotland. Being born in the Highlands and with a lifetime of experience of Scotland its people culture and history I am able to deliver a once I a lifetime experience for tourists and people searching for their roots.

The hotel does not match what you see online. It has seen better days, everything from the lobby to…read morethe room to the "gym" looked tired and grungy. I was expecting much better based on the pictures online and reviews. The location is a little away from the main part of town and is around a 20-minute walk. The two onsite restaurants are ok. I did round up to 3 stars because the front desk staff and the concierge were great and I found out that it was locally owned.

The family at AtlasAdventured highly recommends this hotel!…read moreIf you are looking for a wonderful place to stay in Inverness, situated in the Scottish Highlands, look no further. Pulling in you are greeted by a castle-esque hotel. It is stunning. Plenty of parking out front and back. The inside is elegant and spacious. The staff were all extremely friendly and helpful. The rooms are beautiful. Huge bathrooms, plenty of room for storage, a work desk, kettle with tea and coffee, seating and tables, and of course the most comfortable bed. We ordered room service one night and they were very fast and the food was delicious and beautifully presented. We enjoyed the leisure room which is equipped with a heated pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room, and gym. Bathrooms are inside the pool area with lockers available for 1 euro. My only complaint about the entire stay was I wish the hot tub was hotter! It was more like a warm tub with jets, but it still felt amazing. We felt like Scottish royalty staying here, and if/when we return to Inverness, we will definitely be staying here again. Thank you so much for a memorable stay!

We had a great tour with Bill today. You never know how a day is going to go with a tour guy. He…read moreknows his stuff! He has lived here and lectured at university about the history of the area. He personalized the experience. We went to a lil restaurant called White Cottage and it was right next to the water. We got to meet the cook. All in all, it was a surprisingly great day with a great deal of knowledge learned

Our party of 3 were supper happy to find that Happy Tours had space on their small group (limited…read moreto 8 people) Isle of Skye day trip from Inverness, as Rabbies tour for the only day we could do it was booked out. The tour started at 8:30 am and our meeting point was in front of the Columba Hotel and our tour guide Jim was wearing a kilt and was easy to understand. The itinerary for this tour was: * Loch Ness (with a view of the ruined Urquhart Castle - they Day we were on our tour, it was closed) * Glen Shiel (location where a Jacobite battle was fought against the British Government. On the drive, Jim pointed out a memorial to a Scotsman who lead away Govt Troops, but we didn't stop at the gravesite and I can't recall the name) * Five Sisters of Kintail (saw the peaks while driving out to the Isle of Skye) * Eilean Donan Castle (world famous and extremely photogenic) * Skye Bridge (fabulous piece of engineering connecting Skye with the mainland. Jim informed us that the particular link in the curve of the bridge was to enable the Britannica to be able to pass below to get to the Sea, bit of course while the bridge was being built, the Britannica was decommissioned!) * Cuillin Mountains * Portree * Old Man of Storr * Kilt Rock + Mealt Waterfalls * Quiraing Coming in early spring, we really lucked out and spotted pretty much all the wildlife (not including birds) which Skye is know for, including a gorgeous majestic herd of deer (shades of that Scottish TV show - Monarch of the Glen) at dusk, when driving back from Portree back to the Skye Bridge. Also in the morning, we spotted a heard of wild goats (including babies!) and wild horses with their untamed manes and after lunch we stopped by a closed pen by the roadside to check out the majestic Highland Cows in all their glory! The bus was super comfortable and it was an interesting group, with pretty much everyone on the tour being American. So why the 3-stars? Cause I feel Jim could have done a better job: 1) we discovered early on that the mike wasn't working. Sitting in the back seat, it was hard to hear him. He said he'd connect with another guide and get the mike fixed, but that didn't happen, so a lot of times he was telling folks information and we in the back seat couldn't hear it 2) it was clearly written not to eat or drink in the car, but Jim was doing both and then had a throwaway line about oops, he really shouldn't have done it. In the meantime, all of us obeyed the rules, even tho" a takeaway coffee wouldn't have gone amiss! 3) he was so busy chatting to the folks up front, he missed pointing out some of the sights. So we were driving by the Old Man of Storr Rock foundation and one of the other passengers pointed out (he'd been to Skye previously). 4) I feel more Jacobean history could have been told to us. Admittedly this is not the Culloden tour, but this area is rich in Jacobite history and Jim didn't do that great a job conveying the historical richness of the area we were driving thru. There were some pros- 1) unexpected snowfall / sleet meant we could go up the Quiraing and Jim did a great job showing us other sites around Skye, as we went further up along the coast and saw a most beautiful castle turned hostel. 2) very accommodating about comfort spots and stopping to see the wildlife I'm grateful got the chance to tour the Isle of Skye, however my first preference would have been a Rabbie's Tour. Yelp 82/ 2019

This was a fun tour and what you'd expect. You travel up the channel and around the Loch. They…read moreprovide a lot of interesting history to keep you entertained. Of course, you don't see the Loch Ness monster. The tour is disability accessible. Bring lunch as they only have snacks for sale. With your purchase, you get a " Highland hot chocolate", that's hot chocolate with whiskey. We were there at the same time as a gray and blue haired bus tour and they should consider renaming this the "Loch Ness booze cruise" as there a good amount of semi-rowdy 70 year old women hitting the bar.

The biggest search for the Loch Ness Monster in five decades got underway in the Scottish Highlands…read moreon Saturday, August 26, 2023! Researchers and enthusiasts from around the world braved this pelting rain to try and track down the elusive Nessie. The expedition deployed drones with thermal scanners, boats with infrared cameras and an underwater hydrophone to try to unravel a mystery that has captivated the world for generations. I never got a glimpse of Nessie, glad she stayed hidden on this journey! Maybe my next adventure here I'll get to see her! I met some incredible people this visit. I had no idea when I planned this holiday that this is what I would be getting into! Pure luck and I loved every moment! August 2023

I can't say enough about how excellent our stay was here! Everything was wonderful - from ALL of…read morethe staff to our rooms to the food and views. We would definitely stay here again! Paul was especially wonderful to us - all the staff were really - just lovely! And the location couldn't be better - right in the heart of the busy part of Inverness on the beautiful River Ness- everything is super walkable. And Inverness is a most excellent base to explore the Highlands from - and there's a wonderful tour company that has tons of tours departing from right down the street (Rabbies - they're phenomenal)!! We spent 8 out of our 10 nights in the Highlands here. They have 2 types of rooms - regular room and a "premier plus" room. The regular rooms are smaller with less "amenities" - with the Premier plus rooms you get much larger rooms, "unlimited" WiFi, larger showers with 2 shower heads (one is a rainfall type!!), a mini fridge, unlimited restocking of coffees, chocolates, and still or sparking waters, as well as some other nice little touches. Totally worth it imo - as this is a "budget" type hotel, the prices are VERY good! The first 2 nights we had a Premier plus room on the 1st floor. Our room was HUGE!! With a whole seating area and couch and everything! And we had incredible views of the River Ness, the castle and some of the historic churches - it was so lovely! The last 6 nights we were on the 3rd floor in a Premier plus room - and while it was still excellent with the great views, it was considerably smaller than the 1st floor room. You have the option to pay just under £10 per person for their daily breakfast buffet and it's worth it! They have a ton of items - all delicious and fresh cooked daily - and you definitely won't find anything like that for that price elsewhere. They have several meat choices, fresh eggs, tons of bread and pastry choices, fruit, yogurt, 5+ cereal choices, and more. They'll also make you anything on the menu you'd like that isn't already out on the buffet. And they have a huge coffee machine that makes anything you could want - from espresso to americano!! As well as hot teas, hot chocolate, & a selection of juices. We also ate here for dinner quite a bit - the restaurant scene in the town is challenging due to staffing issues and you almost always need a reservation everywhere. And there were several nights where we could only get a reservation at the in house restaurant here - kinda crazy - but it was fine bc they have really decent food! They have quite a large menu and good prices. Everything we tried was excellent (see my photos)! One dish that especially stood out was the Chicken Makhani Curry - so good we ordered it several times lol! Their salads are good too and their sticky toffee pudding was very yummy. The internet/WiFi worked very well almost our whole stay. There was one night when it went down but the staff were all wonderful and got it fixed as fast as they could. I can't speak to the parking bc we didn't have a car but I didn't see a lot anywhere - only street parking. I highly recommend staying here - we will definitely be back. Tysm to Paul and all the wonderful staff for making our visit so joyful!

This was an excellent hotel in Inverness. The price was reasonable, and the hotel staff was so…read morefriendly. Check in was easy. There is front desk staff there 24/7 if you were to need anything. They have a restaurant attached that was a nice spot to eat when I checked into my hotel late in the evening. They have a bar in the hotel as well if you want to stay in for a drink. There are also snack and drink vending machines in the lobby if you get hungry and need a late night snack. The hotel felt safe for me as a solo traveler and required you to use your hotel key to get on the elevator. The room and bathroom were spacious and clean. The shower had good water pressure and was hot. There was tea supplies in the room if you wanted to make tea in the room. The bed was comfortable and the blinds were excellent at blocking out the light was the street. It was a lovely stay and within walking distance of many popular spots In Inverness. I would stay here again.

The only thing 4 stars about this hotel was the pricing, which was very much not worth the awful…read morestay. - Hot rooms with no AC and windows barely opened. Might have been low 60s outside, but felt 85 inside. - Smelled like cigarette smoke thanks to having to keep windows open and the smoking area being right outside the doors. - Constant yelling and screaming from the bars surrounding the hotel, no exaggeration. Went on every night till almost 4am. Couldn't close the windows to block it out some or else it would be too hot to sleep. - Beds felt like I was sleeping on the floor. - Old and outdated hotel, no outlets in the room except for by the desk, only lights were 2 small lamps at the desk and 2 lamps by the bed. - No regard for cleanliness: sticky floors, hair still in shower, sticky remote, lipstick still on the teaspoons so I didn't bother with the complimentary tea/coffee. - Wifi was nonexistent with how slow it was. A Motel 6 would have been less disgusting than this overpriced nightmare.

The rooms facing the street are super noisy at night. The WiFi doesn't work in the room. The carpet…read morelooks like it hasn't been cleaned. There isn't a way to control the temperature in the room. The room and bathroom are super small. It feels more like a hostel style dorm room. The pictures they posted are deceiving. There is a newer Radisson hotel for the same price just a few minute away. I wished I had stayed there instead.

You can do better, much better! The Columba has a good…read morelocation but it is an old hotel that looks like it hasn't been renovated in many years. The hallways were extremely narrow, the room was very small, as was the bathroom. The carpet was thin and the wi-fi was spotty. I moved 1/2 block down the street (still on the Ness River) to the Premier Innl for the same price and a much better experience.

We enjoyed our stay here at the Columba Hotel in Inverness, we were in the Ness Suite with a…read morebeautiful view of the Ness River, the room was very spacious and a lot to offer. The only drawback was the shower was not even warm, there was a large bathtub and the water for it was fine. The hotel is obviously very old but none of this bother us at all. The food was good in the bar as well as the drinks. When we return to Inverness we will book here again. Staff, specifically Aimee were all very helpful.

Fantastic! A beautiful house with large rooms and fantastic bathrooms (loved the shower especially…read moreafter a long day touring). Breakfasts were lovely. Best of all were the hosts Brian and Michelle who were lovely and very helpful with recommendations of what to see in Inverness.

Hotel was right in the thick of things. Many pubs and restaurants are walking distance. Our shuttle…read moreto take us to Loch Ness was at a bus depot a block from the hotel. Very convenient location in Inverness. Wifi was useless in the room. We had to go to the lobby to be able to use Wifi, which was inconvenient. It's also a bit of a larbyrinth of a hotel and could have better markings for the room. We were at the end of a smaller hallway and we had to go up to our main floor and came to a seemingly dead end without finding our room until we realized there was a smaller stairway for 4-5 steps off to the side which extended the hallway. Wasn't the clearest of markings, but manageable. Otherwise, hotel was beautiful and has a cool history of guests. Very Victorian-era, which added to the novelty of our travels.

This hotel actually smells bad. It's cold in Inverness and there is no heat in the bathrooms. They…read moredo not supply wash cloths even if you ask. Most of the people who work here are surly. The heated towel racks are broken. The bedding is scratchy and the duvet is very thin. The pillows are like rocks. Overall, this is a NO!