The Bracken Hide hotel assessment: A smart yet flawed retreat on the Isle of Skye

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In a nutshell: This fashionable new opening is centrally situated on the stunning Isle of Skye, with fashionable cabin rooms and a stunning foremost constructing. However, the modern look is papering over some apparent teething issues.

The location

The Isle of Skye actually is as stunning as the photos throughout your Instagram feed would recommend. Towering peaks maintain court docket round huge bays and ethereal moorland. The Bracken Hide sits in an outstanding place on the edge of the island’s foremost (and solely) city of Portree, the place company can stroll a leisurely 20 minutes from the hotel to all of the city’s eating places, pubs, cafés and outlets. Despite its proximity, The Bracken Hide acts as a retreat away from the vacationer honeypot that’s Portree. Perched on a slight elevation above the city, one view from the hotel faces the barren hills inland, whereas the different appears out onto Loch Portree and, additional afield, to rolling hills on the neighbouring island of Raasay.

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Skye is a big island with tons to see and a automobile is really helpful, however the Bracken Hide’s central location leads to shorter journey instances to the must-go points of interest. By automobile, the historical volcanic panorama of the Quiraing is 40 minutes away, whereas the jagged rock formation of the Old Man of Storr is lower than 20. Skye might be reached by automobile from the Scottish mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh over the Skye Bridge, itself a two-hour drive from Fort William or 4 hours from Glasgow. Alternatively, each automobile and foot passengers can take a 25-minute ferry from Mallaig, a port city reachable by an extremely scenic 90-minute practice journey from Fort William.

The look

The centrepiece of the hotel is the extraordinary foremost constructing containing the foyer, restaurant and whisky bar with the cabin-style rooms set individually. Built like a curved picket field and plonked on high of a hill, it appears as if modernist Scandi-chic and conventional Scottish fashion had a child. Stepping by way of the entrance doorways into the foyer, guests are offered with large floor-to-ceiling home windows under a hovering uneven vaulted ceiling presenting views of the bay under. The reception desk is hidden, permitting for more room for company to loosen up into smooth furnishings and admire the Highland surroundings by way of the home windows. Armchairs and sofas upholstered with wool and leather-based create an area that, regardless of the vastness of the constructing’s inside, feels altogether cosy.

The restaurant, Fraser’s, shares the similar huge area, with an abundance of pure gentle flowing by way of the home windows. Soft brown hues of matted pinewood partitions and straw gentle shades are offset by ocean blue colored plates and verdant inexperienced bursts of well-kept crops lined alongside the partitions. Low-key alcove seating and the inclusion of teal-coloured wall tiles framing a semi-open kitchen create an area with the really feel of a Los Angeles beachfront cafe. It is a genuinely stunning backdrop to the eating expertise.

Outside the foremost constructing, the lack of vegetation and rows of naked flower beds make the property really feel considerably desolate. Rooms are available in the kind of 45 cabins dotted round the hillside and, whereas cosy inside,they’re not notably stunning to have a look at. With over £8m spent over six years to construct the hotel, a couple of timber and bushes to make the place really feel extra established wouldn’t have gone amiss. It must also be famous that at the time of visiting in July 2023, the hotel was unfinished, with constructing work ongoing. This detracted from the hotel’s get-away-from-it-all providing and prompted ideas that it maybe wasn’t fairly prepared for opening yet.

Bed and tub

The cabins are fashionable if cosy affairs, with high-quality bedding, Harris tweed headboards and burnt wooden panelling. Each cabin has a tea station with a kettle, tea, espresso, scorching chocolate and shortbreads (which sadly weren’t replenished throughout my go to), two decent-sized wardrobes and a smart yet very small en-suite toilet. Size does matter when the door to the toilet hits the sink on opening, forcing company to shimmy themselves round once they wish to take a bathe. Similarly, an absence of area for toiletries and bathe doorways that don’t correctly shut add to an total theme of fashion over substance. Thankfully, every cabin has an out of doors deck with chairs to get pleasure from the bewitching views over Skye.

Food and drink

The meals at dinner was spectacular – some of the greatest I’ve ever eaten in Scotland – showcasing the greatest of fashionable British delicacies. A starter of pan-seared pigeon breast with black pudding and apple provided sudden flavour mixtures; the fillet steak and summer time greens foremost coupled daring umami hits with tender, buttery meat. The restaurant rightly and proudly touts its domestically sourced components. The beef, all Highland, is purchased from an area butcher solely 20 miles away in Kyle of Lochalsh, whereas the venison and lamb are all reared on the Isle of Skye itself. Vegetables and mushrooms are grown on the island and seafood is sourced from native ports.

Unfortunately, that is the place the superlatives finish. The restaurant itself is a separate entity from the hotel and communication doesn’t lengthen between the entrance desk and the maître d’. Breakfast was a disappointing affair; a four-star hotel ought to be providing greater than a chilly buffet breakfast of easy pastries, meats and cheeses. There was an absence of care too, with cling movie left on the plates of chilly cuts, bread nonetheless inside the plastic it was purchased in and juice left unreplenished.

Other than that provided by the restaurant supervisor, service at each dinner and breakfast was notably poor. Finding workers in the Scottish Hebrides is notoriously tough because of the distant location, made tougher by post-Brexit immigration guidelines. However, it was primary service coaching which was missing. During dinner, we needed to ask to order wine 3 times earlier than it will definitely arrived after the starters.

Service was brusque at breakfast too. Hot drinks weren’t provided, requiring company to ask themselves. Considering the value level, many company in the hotel at the time of visiting shared our disappointment.

That mentioned, the workers in the Whisky Hide Bar, situated in the foremost constructing, have been pleasant. Friendly and educated, they provided perception into the in depth whisky choice with out erring in the direction of know-it-all territory. Design-wise, minimalism was swapped for black-painted partitions, interspersed with gold finishes on the cabinets. Squint and you would be in Dubai, slightly than the Inner Hebrides.

Pools, spas and public areas

Guests can discover a lounge space with snug and cosy seating in the extraordinary foremost constructing. There can be a mezzanine lounge space, which accommodates a big tv and lay-flat seating for film nights. The Bracken Hide additionally has Estonian saunas, a plunge pool with views of the bay, open every day from 4-8 pm. There is ample parking for guests, although bear in mind that that is at the backside of fairly a steep hill – the stroll up is probably not appropriate for some.

The hotel can be let down by some poor logistical design. For instance, there may be nowhere for employees to take their breaks, which means it’s common to see them smoking subsequent to the hotel entrance. Furthermore, the first issues company see earlier than they enter the foremost constructing are messy window ledges inside the restaurant kitchen stuffed with kitchen home equipment unceremoniously stacked on high of each other.

Nuts and bolts

Room rely: 45 cabins.

Freebies: A tea station with espresso and shortbread biscuits.

In the toilet: All cabins have primary toiletries together with sea kelp shampoo, hand cleaning soap and bathe gel from the ever-popular Scottish Fine Soaps.

Wifi: Yes: however the connection hardly prolonged to some of the cabins.

Extra expenses: Hot breakfast.

Disability entry: Some cabins are reserved for these with mobility wants and the hotel explains extensively on its web site how accessible totally different cabins are. However, there isn’t a wheelchair entry as every cabin has steps going as much as the entrance door.

Pet coverage: Two canine are allowed in cabins for £20 per night time and so they should stay on a lead when in the hotel grounds.

Bottom line

Best factor: Beautiful design: the foremost constructing is an actual showstopper.

Worst factor: The visitor expertise. Most workers are pleasant however the lack of care is usually obvious. The grounds weren’t prepared at the time of our go to; it will have been helpful to place off opening till the full expertise was as much as scratch.

Perfect for: People searching for fashionable environment in a primary location.

Not proper for: Those who need worth for cash and good service.

Instagram from: The foremost foyer entrance, the place large home windows body an iconic view of the Highlands.

Price: Rates at The Bracken Hide begin at £140 based mostly on two sharing a small cabin, together with a restricted chilly breakfast. This will increase significantly in the peak of summer time.

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