FAQs

You've only got four rooms. You must be a very tiny hotel!

Actually, we're not a hotel at all. We're a private house - a family home - and what we run is a B&B in the traditional, old-fashioned sense.

This is not how we make our living. Both of us have other jobs. We run our B&B because we enjoy the company of interesting people, we love this part of the world, and we want to show everyone what we've discovered here.

Rest assured: we're strictly amateur - no vulgar professionalism here!

What's your "Exclusively Yours" promise?

We want you to be able to relax when you come here - no locked doors or worrying about strangers. So, when you book your visit, we'll guarantee not to take anyone else. Whether it's just one room you want, or the whole house, you're in control of who stays.

Are you part of the Visit Scotland quality scheme? How many stars do you have?

We used to belong to Visit Scotland, but we left some years ago because it wasn't right for us. The quality scheme attempted to create a level playing field between businesses, assessing everyone using identical, measurable, objective criteria. What happened was that the scheme began pushing its members towards a unified, corporate style of quality - what we call "McB&B" - and actively discouraged anything unusual or specialist. That's fine for some businesses - and some customers - but we were quite clear about what we wanted to achieve here, and the quality scheme didn't value that. So we left.

Another thing: the quality award is given by a professional inspector on an annual visit. That seems less valuable than the collected opinions of many genuine visitors. We therefore consider the reviews on sites such as Trip Advisor to be inherently a more honest ratings scheme, and we support that approach. You can read our Trip Advisor reviews here.

Are any of your rooms en-suite?

None of our rooms are en-suite. There are several reasons for that:

Firstly, this is an old house. It doesn't really lend itself to that kind of adaptation, and attempting to do so would destroy much of the charm of the house.

Secondly, we don't like en-suites. It would be considered unsanitary to have eating areas communicating with toilet areas in any other context. We think it's pretty unsantiary in hotel rooms.

In fact, as far as we can tell, the only place where people are expected to sleep in close proximity to their toilet is in prison!

All the rooms have wash-basins, and we have a large bathroom for guests' use. It's got a proper bath, and you can use the loo without crouching. And because of our "Exclusively Yours" promise, you'll never have to share it with strangers. In effect, you get a private bathroom.

How do we pay you? Do you take credit cards?

Normally, we'd ask you for a deposit at the time of your booking. You'll pay the balance while you're here.

We don't take credit cards directly - we're too small to justify the merchant charges! Instead, we can accept payment via Paypal. It's safe for both of us, and is probably the easiest way to send money internationally.

We also accept cheques (in Pounds Sterling drawn on a UK bank), Travellers Cheques, and, of course, cash.

Is there parking nearby?

More than you'll need!

Do you accept pets?

Yes. Just let us know, when you make your booking, that you're going to be bringing your pets, and we'll make the necessary arrangements.

Have you got WiFi?

Yes. Right here: . And in the rooms, of course.

Anything else you'd like to know? Just ask!