Hello!
Booking ahead for a trip to Scotland in September and having a hard time finding ways to contact some of the RS recommended B & B's online. Riverside b & B for instance can only be located on Trip Advisor--no email address or working website. Anyone stay there or know if it still exists??
Thank you
Kate
I'd say it's closed. Like you I cannot find a website for Riverside B&B and TA reviews are several years old.
They may have ceased trading as a result of the Covid pandemic which saw some small, family run accommodation providers close during the various lockdowns never to reopen. In addition other B&B proprietors are choosing not to apply for the new short term rental licenses because of the extra costs involved, as well as meeting all the requirements needed to be granted a license.
There is a regular contributor here called Skyegirl who I hope will see this post and be able to answer your question for you.
It's no longer a B&B and I believe the property was/is for sale. I don't know that I would trust RS recommendations for Skye. When was he last here? There are actually far fewer B&Bs now due to the Short Term Let legislation that requires all B&Bs to jump through a lot of (costly) hoops to get licensed. Those of us who are micro businesses have had to weigh up whether it's worth continuing to run our businesses. Many micro businesses also don't have their own websites, choosing instead to be listed on one of the major platforms such as booking.com and airbnb. Those platforms will probably be your best starting point. But you have left it late to find accommodation for this year. Try widening your search outside of Portree. Other places you might look are Broadford, Dunvegan, Carbost and Staffin.
You might like to report that closure as a guidebook update here- https://www.ricksteves.com/forms/guidebook-feedback-form
We can't do that from the UK due to how the system is set up- a problem I have run into for my own area- in the Lake District.
I asked my daughter where they stayed last September on Skye and this is what she answered: "We were at the Atholl House in Dunvegan. It's a nice b&b with a small restaurant (food is good). The women who run it were lovely. It was quiet and the room was nice! I'd stay there again for sure."
FYI - my daughter can be rather picky about accomodations so I would consider that a glowing recommendation. :)
They also ran into full houses in Portree so had to look elsewhere when they made their reservations for Sept in April. Assuming you are renting a car there are other nice places to stay on Skye besides Portree. They really liked Dunvegan.
The Atholl House in Dunvegan is a very good shout. Jennie is the owner and she is simply a lovely person. They also do evening meals in their small but cosy restaurant. Reasonably priced for Skye, and there are two other good restaurants in Dunvegan, namely The Dunvegan and The Old School.
