Kingshouse Hotel, Glencoe

[Scottk]

Just in case anyone is going up that way. The hotel is closed for refurbishment at the moment. I was staying at Glencoe Resort and got talking to one of the guys there who was telling me the hotel has been bought by Stella Artois who own the estate. Apparently they have lodged plans to demolish parts of the hotel and rebuilt it larger with more rooms.
When I walked through the grounds, there is a new bunkhouse and cafe bar which looked really nice with a dedicated shower/toilet block.
As an aside, the Glencoe resort was great. £6 for camping but you need £1 coins for the shower! They also have drying room available and the food is reasonably priced too.

[Caberfeidh]

I've been to the new cafe/bar and can vouch for the coffee and soup. The old place was needing a revamp for a long time; it can be a struggle to maintain a building built to eighteenth-century regulations - or lack of them! At least the plans include preserving the old climbers' bar. I hope they keep the old photos and bits of gear which were on the wall for so many years. I remember an old friend, now dead for many years, telling me of a wild night in there when there was a guy lying unconscious on the pool table with other guys still playing pool around about his inert form. Also someone had set off an orange hand-smoke in the bogs, so when the door was opened a big cloud of orange smoke billowed out, and everyone's nostrils were ringed with day-glow orange from it. The jar of midgies held people enthralled and horrified in equal measure. Winter or summer it was a welcoming place for a pint.

Kingshouse climbers' bar winter traverse

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35241655

[GeorgiePorgie]

We stayed at the Kinghouse bunkhouse in July 17 and can recommend it to all visitors to the area. It is very clean, dry and a warm facility which also has good showers, ablutions,drying room and a small kitchen area. The only disappointment was the bedroom lights are on a timer which lasts only seconds so you have to constantly hit the button to retain the light. Also, if you're having a lie-in, forget it as you will be wakened by the constant door banging of disrespectful walkers getting ready for another day's walking. This is despite the owners clearly displaying notices not to slam the doors.
Next door to the bunkhouse is the cafe/bar which is also recommended. The menu is a little limited but the food is exactly what walkers require for a good day's walking and it is also plentiful. The staff are very friendly and helpful too. Packed lunches can be booked the night before which are again very plentiful and reasonably priced. The bar is a welcoming sight after a long and tiring day on the hills!
Great views outside the facility of BEM, and all the Etive and Glencoe hills. I agree with the previous comment -the Kinghouse Hotel does need a restoration as it was to be honest beginning to look rather rundown and looking at the plans (which are plastered over the cafe/bar walls) it should be an impressive place to visit or stay when finished.

[rgallie]

Only been once.

Must have been near 10 year ago when I did the west highland way.
I camped next to the burn.

Pub was busy but handy for a pint, not so handy for a toilet stop as the door lock was broken and the place was mobbed, fine for a slash but wouldn't fancy sitting down at the risk of someone walking in

Had a fryup the next morning and was treated as well as any of the much cleaner looking guests.

Dunno if they still allow camping? I read online (possibly here) that has maybe not been the case for a while.

[Gingerbrews]

I am glad to see that it's getting a well needed facelift.
I stayed there in summer 2015 and to say that the decor and facilities were "tired" is being polite. The American guests I spoke to were far from impressed. I hope the new chef cooks a better breakfast than we suffered then.

[Scottk]

Definitely still camping. There were about 8 tents there last week.

[Skyelassie]

I had enquired about staying here but I also got told that It´s closed for refurbishment. I look forward to it´s reopening.

[Graeme D]

Aye, the climbers bar out the back is an institution - or rather if you stay there too long you're likely to end up in an institution!

[EmilyD]

Does anyone know if they have actually started work on the hotel itself? Did it look like they were doing stuff to it? I haven't had a good look in a few months -- just a quick glance at 60mph from the A82.

I was up there last March for the Glasgow Uni Mountaineering Club reunion meet. Because GUMC has close connections to the old owner of the Kingy, I know from good sources that building the cafe and bunkhouse cost more than the new owners anticipated and work refurbishing the hotel was put off. There's also some concern that the plan is to turn it into a posh spa/hotel for the very rich but no one knows for sure. I hope not.

[Scottk]

It didn't look like any work had started but they could have been gutting the interior. There were fences round the hotel building but the car park, bunkhouse and cafe are all accessible and open. There were workers vans parked in the car park but there seemed to be a lot of work going on in the grounds.
The plans are to add extra rooms to bring it to 80 but keep the climbers bar. The bunkhouse has room for 32 I think.
Can't imagine that Stella Artois have run out of money.
I spoke to one of the locals and he had heard it was going more upmarket but that is only rumour.

[Cairngormwanderer]

Still waiting on planning permission. They had permission for a reasonable extension, which was granted last year. But they are currently trying to get permission for a much larger extension which looks like a warehouse with windows, totally dwarfing the original part of the building. So nothing will be happening until the planning permission is sorted out.

[helenw]

Mountaineering Scotland, National Trust Scotland and John Muir Trust have all objected to the Kings House planning application - see news story.

[RocksRock]

Can anyone tell me the address of the planning authority or their e-mail and their application reference number. Looks like typical planning creep to me - get permission for something small and unexceptional and then creep it bigger and bigger........................ they do it all the time down here.

[Mal Grey]

Mountaineering Scotland, National Trust Scotland and John Muir Trust have all objected to the Kings House planning application - see news story.

Blimey, that's a completely inappropriate scale of extension for such a special and unique corner of the Highlands!

http://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/files/ADF6B3952CA04F88674E638FED103323/pdf/17_03703_FUL-PROPOSED_ELEVATIONS-1282324.pdf

[Cairngormwanderer]

Can anyone tell me the address of the planning authority or their e-mail and their application reference number. Looks like typical planning creep to me - get permission for something small and unexceptional and then creep it bigger and bigger........................ they do it all the time down here.

Link to Highland Council is at the end of the story here, along with the reference number for the application. https://www.mountaineering.scot/news/mountaineering-scotland-objects-to-kings-house-hotel-extension