Columba House

The location was the only thing we liked. Our stay was meant to include a garden view, but there wasn’t one, and the beds were uncomfortable. The bathroom was covered in dust, with thick dust and hair along the skirting boards in both the bathroom and bedroom. There was hair and debris beside the toilet, plus splash marks on the shower boards. It clearly hadn’t been cleaned for a long time. We didn’t dare inspect the mattress, and were glad we only had one night booked. Check-in was listed as simple, but we arrived without a code for the key box. The phone at the help desk went unanswered, and it took 30 minutes and an online chat to get the room key. I know it was cheap and wasn’t expecting The Ritz, but basic standards still need to be met. I can’t understand how this place calls itself a hotel; at best, it’s a hostel. The property advised me to request a refund through Booking.com, but didn’t respond to the request. If you want a clean, well-kept place to stay, don’t book here.

The room we’d booked wasn’t cleaned after the previous guest. At 7:00 p.m. we arrived and found trash and used linens throughout, an unmade bed, and poop left unflushed in the toilet. When I called the off-site staff, they didn’t believe me at first and asked me to send photos, which I did over WhatsApp while still on the phone. We were put in a much lower-quality ground-floor room for the night, overlooking the gravel parking lot instead of the countryside. We were told we’d hear the next day when our original room was ready. Instead, we were asked to pack up and leave the temporary room so it could be cleaned before our booked room was ready. After complying and waiting longer, we finally moved into our original room around 12:30 p.m. on the second day. We never saw another guest use the temporary room. Later, staff handed us its key again and told us to return it to the Keycafe, as if handling the property’s operations were our responsibility. There was no on-site management, and the whole process felt unprofessional. Communication got more uncomfortable once we were in our room. Messages made it seem as though off-site staff were monitoring guests through Ring cameras in the common areas. We’d told the property two days ahead that we were bringing our dog to this advertised “dog-friendly” place, but management then imposed rules about which rooms could have dogs and demanded a pet fee plus another cleaning fee, £60 in total. Those restrictions aren’t disclosed in the listing, and the booking sites don’t identify any rooms as not allowing dogs. If we’d known, we wouldn’t have booked. Dog owners should also know the only pet-waste bin is in the guest rooms. We were excited to stay in this beautiful historic property on the edge of Kingussie, and the town is charming, with stunning Cairngorms views. That’s why we booked three nights. But the description was misleading and much of the booking page information was inaccurate, including the dog-friendly claim. Between the dirty room at check-in, poor communication, intrusive monitoring and off-site management, it wasn’t worth the risk or price. We left a day early and turned the matter over to our travel insurance and booking site. I strongly recommend staying elsewhere.

My partner and I booked three nights at Columba house, but we didn’t even last three hours. The room was filthy, the bed was broken, and there was actual poo on the floor. The staff seemed to be reachable only on WhatsApp and expected us to clean it up ourselves. I honestly don’t think you could pay me to go back. I’ve attached photos with my full, unabridged review, since Google’s character limit was too low to post it here.

My dog needed an emergency operation at the last minute, so I couldn’t make the trip. The business wouldn’t let me change the dates or get a refund, even though I’d chosen new days and offered to pay a bit more. A company worth anything would try to help in this situation. Now they’re keeping the money for a room that will more or less sit empty. It’s a really poor response from a place with such a great location and rooms.