Celebrity Traitors is back on our screens, filmed once again at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands. Trouble is, you can't actually sleep there. The good news: the Highland capital of Inverness is a short hop away, and its hotel scene has finally caught up with demand since the North Coast 500 driving route put the region firmly on the map in 2015. Scottish travel writer Robin McKelvie has rounded up the top options, and there's something for every kind of Highland base camp.
Inverness itself deserves more than a quick overnight stop. The castle has been given a flashy new visitor experience, the River Ness sweeps right through town, and the pubs and restaurants lean hard into Scotland's food credentials. There's an unexpected bonus for nature lovers too: the Moray Firth is home to the world's most northerly pod of bottlenose dolphins, and a fast RIB trip gives you the best odds of a sighting. Porpoises are near-guaranteed; whales are the jackpot.
On the hotel front, whisky fans should head straight for the Glen Mhor, a grand sandstone building on the riverbank that has had £7.5m of investment and now boasts the first distillery and brewery built in Inverness in over 130 years. There are distillery tours, a riverside terrace, and more than 300 whiskies waiting in the Uile-bheist Taproom. For five-star comfort, the Ness Walk Hotel occupies a 19th-century building on the leafy riverbank with rooms from £130, and its position is perfect for strolling the Ness Islands, a walkways-and-bridges oasis many visitors skip entirely.
History lovers are well served. Culloden House, a Grade A listed mansion on 40 acres, served as Bonnie Prince Charlie's battle headquarters in 1745-46 ahead of the Battle of Culloden — catnip for Outlander fans. The Kingsmills Hotel, meanwhile, claims Robert Burns as a past guest and pours whisky flights in its Whisky Bar. If you're chasing Nessie instead, Loch Ness Lodge sits right on the loch with just nine sumptuous rooms and a fireside menu of Scottish cheeses and cured meats.
Practical picks include the riverside Palace Hotel & Spa (opened 1890, recently revamped, with a rare-for-Inverness swimming pool and six electric car chargers), the central River Ness Hotel under Radisson's Individual brand with accessible rooms and solid online deals, Marriott's AC Hotel by the water (from £69, opened 2022, strong whisky-and-gin cocktails), and the cosy, couple-friendly boutique Rocpool Reserve, whose Indulgent Package runs from Prosecco on arrival through afternoon tea to tasting spoons of local produce.
Whether you want castle drama, dram-sampling or dolphin-spotting, Inverness makes a genuinely good base — two or three nights is enough to cover the city, Loch Ness and a slice of the North Coast 500. Just don't expect to get voted off at breakfast.
