When I look at B&B's practically anywhere in Scotland, bookings.com shows most places booked for next summer. How much of that is truly booked versus the owner not yet releasing their bookings to the websites? Contacting the individual B&Bs when they don't have their own bookings can get pretty onerous for me and them.
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
This topic has come up before with respect to Scotland (as well as for other countries), and the answer has generally been that most likely the proprietors just don't have their information loaded yet. They may well not know what their rates will be. Parts of Scotland (including Skye) do get picked over early, so I'd advise you to stay on top of the situation by checking at least once a week. I had trouble finding convenient, affordable options in Oban and on Syke in December/January for July dates. If you aren't traveling in the summer and/or if you will have a car (which gives you more location flexibility), you may not need to be as on your toes as I wished I had been.
Something to remember for the future: It's not just lodgings that are underbuilt at some of the most popular Scottish destinations; there is sometimes an inadequate number of restaurant tables. If you want to eat dinner sitting down, it's a very good idea to make a reservation.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
Acraven you are absolutely right about dinner reservations! I will never forget arriving in Kirkwall after traveling for nearly 24 hours walking past restaurant after restaurant with no table! Finally, someone took pity on the three of us--my mom, dad and me! But I have taken seriously ever since the need to book. You may think, but. it's a Tuesday night! How can they all be booked, but they are. So, don't forget or you may be picnicking when you didn't mean to.
Pam
Posted by
Isle of Skye, Scotland
1305 posts
I am a B&B owner who uses booking dot com. I generally release my availability for the summer in January or February, so for 2022 I will release availability in January or February 2022. I won't do it any sooner due to continued uncertainty over the pandemic and travel possibilities. However, I am a very small operation and I know some bigger places open up their diaries earlier.
Best wishes
Skyegirl.
Posted by
OP
Mountains of S. Oregon
783 posts
Booking,com, google maps, etc. need to have a third color on their calendars so us OCD-types can see what's actually going on.
Posted by
Edinburgh
2683 posts
"Something to remember for the future: It's not just lodgings that are underbuilt at some of the most popular Scottish destinations; there is sometimes an inadequate number of restaurant tables. If you want to eat dinner sitting down, it's a very good idea to make a reservation."
Maybe it is just too many tourists.
one of the other problems is that sites like booking .com actively encourage booking with full cancellation ,and many folk book more than one place with the intention of cancelling later once they decide on the place they want.