Advice: Accommodation Definitions and descriptions:

Bed and Breakfasts, Guest Houses and Hotels

In Scotland, a bed and breakfast usually refers to a private family home where the owners have decided to have paying guests stay.

Although everyone on the About Scotland web site takes a lot of pride and care in looking after their bed and breakfasts, remember these are family homes, so they may have that lived-in look. However much the dog chewed the table leg, they should always be clean. Some owners pay the Scottish Tourist Board (or Visit Scotland as it is now known) many hundreds of pounds a year for membership and to check and award a star grading to their accommodation. On the whole the Scots are naturally hospitable and take a pride in their homes and in ensuring you are comfortable.

The owners have their lives to lead, and sometimes may not be able to welcome you at certain times when you first arrive. Try to make sure you've made an arrangement about what time you will be arriving.

Some bed and breakfast owners cook delicious food, and offer a 3 to 4 course dinner or light supper as an optional extra. They may even make packed lunches.

But where a bed and breakfast mainly differs from a hotel is in the lack of room service. You may not have a happy host if you demand a sandwich and Schnaps at 2am.

Guest Houses are really the same as bed and breakfasts except there are often more bedrooms available, and the house is usually the main source of income for the owner.

Many of your hosts will have a lot of knowledge about the locality and will be mines of information about where to go and what to do.

If you have any feedback to report after staying at any of the accommodations on this site, please email About Scotland..

Weekly rentals, Vacation Rentals, Self-catering Holiday Cottages

Some visitors may like to know that in Scotland "Holiday" means an ordinary "Vacation", and can last for weeks. And a Vacation Rental, or Weekly Rental, is often called a Holiday Cottage, or Self-catering Holiday Cottage.

Whether remote shepherd's cottages, country houses or city apartments, Self-catering accommodation is one of the best way to get to know an area. Prices can be low out of the summer months (though not Christmas and New Year), but even at high season they are good value.

Each web page on this site will say how many people the Rental can accommodate. The price will normally be for booking the cottage by the week. Properties vary as to whether the price includes linen and towels, electricity, gas, so its best to check this beforehand.

When you arrive, the cottage will have been cleaned and made ready for you. To make life easier for the person who comes in to prepare it for the next quests, you are expected to leave it clean and tidy before you depart.

Youth Hostels

All over Scotland there are a number of well-run Youth Hostels. The Scottish Youth Hostel Association (7, Glebe Crescent, Stirling, FK8 2JA, Tel: +44 (0)1786 451181) grades its hostels according to their facilities. Expect to pay between £10 and £22 (Edinburgh high season) per person per night. Breakfast is sometimes provided as well for about £4.
There are also hundreds of independently run campsites where you can pitch a tent for £5 or £6 per night, (a little extra if you have a car).

The Scottish Tourist Board also known as Visit Scotland

has "Tourism Information Centres" in many towns. Here you can ask for advice, buy books, pick up free information leaflets, and book local accommodation for a fee.

About Scotland

My owner has a growing portfolio of accommodation he and his wife recommend. Its divided into;

• Bed and Breakfast and guest houses: Always the best... in quality and character.
• Accommodation in Edinburgh: Some of the most excellent and central in town.
• Hotels: Inns, Castles and Country Houses all over Scotland.
• Self-catering rentals: Over 100 properties throughout Scotland.
• Wedding, conference and party venues.

These are complete web pages in themselves, and should contain enough information and photographs for you to be able to make a good choice that suits you. About Scotland is not an agent, so you contact and book with the owner directly.

But don't look at these yet... look at my next page about shops, opening hours and touring in this part of the world, and then look at my Home Page!