Balavil Hotel

10/10

Exceptional

15 Feb 2026

David

Good size bedroom and comfy. Pleasant staff.

10/10

Exceptional

10 Oct 2025

Mr L

Safe, but not secure, parking across the (quiet) Main Street. Staff were friendly and helpful, the room and bathroom were clean and well prepared. The breakfast was excellent, with plentiful healthy options to choose from.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

08 Oct 2025

Alexandra

Such a great little hotel in a cozy small village. Traveling with a friend and our plans got blown away by Storm Amy. We scrambled and found this hotel at the last minute, which was one of the best parts of the trip. Travel weary from hours of driving, we walked in and immediately received a warm greeting, given our room key, and offered dinner in the dining room. The food was so good my friend and I nearly cried. It reminded me of my grandmother’s cooking. The staff were professional and friendly and they even had singers in the bar for evening entertainment. I will definitely book at this place again when I travel to Scotland and always remember the good time I had here.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

21 Sep 2025

Sylvia

Very friendly atmosphere, had a lovely quiet room away from noise, food very good, large collectoln of whisky.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Sep 2025

Patricia

Newtonmore

Comfortable and an excellent value. Staff are very welcoming and gracious.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

30 Aug 2025

Sandy

Property was quiet, service was good and parking very handy

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

26 Aug 2025

Shilpa

The property is old and needs updating ....roons very small and basic ...our bedroom and bath floor was not level felt like we were on a slop ...breakfast was ok ...everything from tea coffee to food just luke warm but staff are friendly and helpful ...booked 3 nts but wished we had only bookwd 1 nt and moved on ...nevermind served our needs for the weekend

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

11 Aug 2025

Tim

Very comfortable and great as an overnight stop as part of a wider road trip. Staff were very friendly, helpful, and welcoming.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

01 Aug 2025

Lori

The staff was incredible - we were delayed getting to the property and someone waited for us at the front desk to check in. The restaurant was very accommodating to allergies.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

15 Jul 2025

John

Lovely, historical hotel with old age charm with authentic home made food and good beer! Great place to experience the local area. Come and try you will not be disappointed!

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

04 Jul 2025

David

Very cyclist friendly!

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Jun 2025

christina

Staff was incredibly welcoming and friendly. I would recommend this property to others. Food was tasty as well.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

29 May 2025

Karen

What a lovely hotel and amazing staff and service. We contact to let them know we would be a late check in and due to issues beyond our control it got later and later. The receptionist stayed late on duty for us and even offered us a drink at the bar when we arrived!
The room was beautiful and very clean, lovely rain shower in bathroom with double size shower cubicle.
Breakfast was okay, not great for vegans though, only potato cakes and beans and no oat milk but I was given soya cream for coffee which was actually nice.
Our stay w as brief due to travel but I would stay here again.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

27 May 2025

Julianne

Great location, easy to find, lots of parking, and staff were wonderful. The room was very unique and had full amenities present, however the heated bathroom towel rack did not work and the TV had a poor signal. The bed was comfortable, had a cute sitting area, and they provided a wireless phone charger which was really nice to have.
We were there during quite warm weather and the room was initially unbearably hot - but improved with open windows and a fan. We would stay here again as the people were lovely.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

11 May 2025

Guy

Great staff, lovely hotel.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

09 Sep 2024

susan

Love this hotel the food is sublime the staff are friendly and very efficient its truely scottish in every sense of the word excellent

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

06 Sep 2024

Fiona

Loved our stay. Pool was warm. Food was amazing, staff welcoming, accommodating and amazing. Our stay from start to finish was perfect. We had our 4 year old daughter, who loved the room, the pool, the staff and the food.would recommend.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

10 Aug 2024

Alexander

Great location and staff are amazing. Foods really good as well. Would definitely recommend.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

03 Aug 2024

anja

Nice family room. Nice friendly staff!

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Aug 2024

Fredrick

We stayed here passing through, so I can’t say much about the shopping or dining around the hotel. We had a nice, one night stay. Everyone was nice, breakfast was good, and the room was clean, just dated. They do not have washcloths, so bring your own if you use them. They do have bath towels and hand towels. There is a little grocery store next door, so that was convenient. We would stay again if passing through.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jun 2024

Clodoaldo R

It's an old hotel but very clean. Staff members are very friendly and welcoming. It offers parking space.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

22 May 2024

Christine

Enjoyable stay

Enjoyable one night stay. Spacious bedroom and bathroom. Staff very friendly. Restaurant was good service and excellent food.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

13 May 2024

John

Excellent stay

Excellent hotel. Staff were very friendly and efficient . Amazing breakfast. Twin room on ground floor didn’t have best view but was comfortable .

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

05 Apr 2024

Ali

Great location. Service was spectacular. Free parking across the stress was a nice perk. Bar, dinner and breakfast service was the highlight. The room was smaller than anticipated but the service around the hotel would bring us back.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

08 Aug 2023

John

Relaxing Atmosphere

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

01 Oct 2022

Ronald

excellent stop on a short tour

Partner

8/10

Excellent

02 Aug 2022

Matthew

Lovely hotel

A fantastic stay, and a pleasure to return to such a well-run and good quality hotel

Partner

8/10

Excellent

23 May 2022

Brian

Staff were very helpful. Nice dining room and lovely meal.
A well stocked bar with a good range of malt whiskies.
Could do with a larger car parking area. I had to park my car on the Main Street. Very good overall though.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

21 May 2022

Verified traveler

Nice to get in a decent shower after stay in disappointing hotel previous couple of nights

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

12 Apr 2022

Ka Wing Jimmy

Nice room and breakfast

Self

10/10

Exceptional

04 Jan 2022

Craig

Relaxing and Welcoming

A quick overnight stop before hitting the local mountains. The food was outstanding - they even provided an additional doggy-bag to take home, as the pate was good! (Great Gluten Free offerings too) Very attentive personal service, with many COVID measures in place but not detracting from an enjoyable and relaxing stay. The log fire was awesome. Thanks everyone, we will be back soon.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

30 Sep 2021

Kenneth

A Good Stay

We ha a wonderfull time at the Balavil and will surely return the future. The staff were very accommodating and the hotel was nicely finnished and everything was spotless

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

05 Aug 2021

Ronnie

Perfect central hotel for short family stay

Hotel was excellent - we loved the location, parking, room size/comfort, breakfast, swimming pool and first class service! Newtonmore is perfect to visit surrounding area, but town is lovely too.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

25 Jul 2021

Diane

Excellent

Amazing stay staff very friendly and helpful,food excellent,very clean

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jul 2021

Verified traveler

The hotel was lovely and would highly recommend it. Only thing I would have liked was a fan for the room. The weekend we stayed was the hottest of the year and the room was hot. Apart from that, it was a great place to stay. The food was excellent, so much so, that we decided to eat there both nights, instead of venturing out for food.

Leisure Family_with_children

8/10

Excellent

06 Jul 2021

Verified traveler

Hotel was nice. Staff were friendly and helpful. Food was really good and we enjoyed the pool.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

01 Jun 2021

Kevin

Balavil fantastic

Another fantastic stay at Balavil our second in last year, rooms fab, food excellent and pool is superb as well as the service provided by the staff.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

18 Oct 2020

Linzi

Lovely stay at the balavil hotel, me and my two young sons stayed for two nights, so we could visit the landmark and the wildlife park, perfect place to get our heads down with a little swimming pool which they loved.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

17 Mar 2020

Verified traveler

All staff very friendly and helpful. Swimming pool was a bonus.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Dec 2019

Lisa

We had a great stay as a family. The pool area was great and we had the place to ourselves!
The staff were lovely and nothing was too much trouble.
Cooked breakfast to order in the morning and the best steak pie I've ever had from the restaurant!
Thank you!!

Leisure

10/10

Exceptional

07 Oct 2019

Karyn

Awesome!

We were here to see the baby snow leopards so stayed overnight. Hotel was fantastic, friendly staff and the gluten free menu was impressive as my son has coeliacs. Highly recommend.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

02 Sep 2019

Helen

Hotel was lovely, friendly staff and room was spotlessly clean, the swimming pool was a huge bonus for our granddaughter. Will definitely book this hotel again.

Family

8/10

Excellent

26 Aug 2019

Verified traveler

Value for money

1 night stay. Lacklustre greeting on arrival. Room was comfy and clean. Pool was pleasant but communal changing room was cold and lacked privacy for showering so had to shower with costume on. Great food in the evening and more friendly staff than earlier in the day. Value for money overall so pleased.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

16 Aug 2019

Verified traveler

Possibly a little tired in terms of decor, but a lovely hotel with excellent staff and wonderful food

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

28 Apr 2019

Verified traveler

Staff efficient and friendly. Food and service excellent.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

23 Apr 2019

Ryan

1 night at the Balavil

Perfect place to stay for a couple nights in the Cairngorms. Right next to a Co-op, the restaurant and bar are good quality. Enjoyed the breakfast and quiet nights sleep.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

18 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

Family run hotel with character & good food. Good location for Highlands.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

11 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

Okay but poor breakfast

I spent one night. The hotel is in a great location, right next to the market and with easy access to other cities nearby. The room has a good size, really spacious, the decoration of the room and the bathroom is really outdated which made the stay a bit weird. Nice bed, hot shower and clean. The breakfast was really disappointing, very few options, no fresh juice, only one muffin option and the full breakfast there was no vegetarian option which was terrible, since I had asked beforehand and I've been told they had it. The swimming pool is really good, warm and clean. Due to the outdated room and poor breakfast I wouldn't stay again.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

26 Sep 2018

Verified traveler

Great locally run hotel.

Used this as a stop over back from Elgin. Great hotel, room was recently refurbished. Pool, was great and food was excellent.

10/10

Exceptional

13 Sep 2018

John

Central for touring

Nice scenery, various places to visit, historical area also wildlife park nearby, Cairngorms and resort of Aviemore within 20miles, all in all a nice area.