Kilmichael House

I wouldn't recommend staying here. From the moment we arrived, the host was repeatedly rude and unhelpful, and we felt unwelcome. Rather than helping with our comfort or needs, she seemed to work against them. It was a very disappointing stay, and I'd look for somewhere else.

Charlotte was a helpful host and gave us restaurant suggestions. We ate at Fiddlers, a 10-minute walk away. The rooms in this Edwardian house were huge, with a king-size bed and doona, and the bathroom had both a shower and a bath. I'd read some negative reviews, but I can only speak to our own experience. What a wonderful stay.

The hostess made guests feel like an irritation, and I'd avoid this place. We arrived at about 20 minutes to 4 and were told to get off the property immediately. We weren't even allowed to wait in our car in the parking area. Despite the advertising, we were told there was no breakfast and no food was allowed on the property at all. There were no meals, despite the awning advertising them. The clean, well-appointed room had tea and coffee but no milk. When we asked for some, we were scolded for taking crockery out of the room to get it. The whole thing felt like an especially dysfunctional, expensive episode of Fawlty Towers.

We left that night and found somewhere else, even though it meant paying for two rooms and getting a smaller one. The room here was actually spacious and pretty nice, but the way we were received and what we found out about breakfast made it easy to leave. I left out plenty of other criticism, but Kilmichael House B&B felt cold, inhospitable, and frankly hostile. Its check-in times were strict, it didn't serve breakfast, and the host came across as a draconian rule enforcer. I wouldn't return or recommend it to anyone. I wouldn't take this review down even for five times my money, and I don't want anyone else to have an experience like ours. Before arriving, I'd emailed the B&B to confirm check-in logistics and explain that we were hiking the Great Glenn Way, but got no reply. We had booked months earlier. At the door, the host spoke to us in a way that felt somewhere between inhospitable and hostile. There was no hello or welcome. We were told that the bag transfer service we used for the hike was banned for life from the property, supposedly because this was clearly stated on the website. It was said as if we were unruly children who deserved punishment. I had read the entire Q&A carefully, and when we checked every page of the site, we couldn't find any mention of such a ban. We felt blamed, then given false information about rules that had never been made clear, all in a harsh, condemning tone before we'd even gone inside. After walking 50 miles over four days, that was especially upsetting and unsettling. The B&B's name and its website's first Q&A point both say breakfast. We'd stayed at four other B&Bs just before this one, all run by friendly, honest people who welcomed us and served breakfast. In the Scottish Highlands, each had checked our preferences and breakfast time the night before, either in person or with a one-page form. Here there were no signs about breakfast time downstairs or in our room, and the host never mentioned it. We also saw a review posted four days before our arrival describing a similar bad experience: the guest had tea, but no breakfast and no chance to get any. To me, that was false advertising.