The Lovat Hotel & Restaurant

A very special stay for 2 nights. Arrived early, room ready with lovely warm welcome and warming toddy. In a quiet spot but just a few minutes walk to the locks and a few more to the southern point of Loch Ness. Truly wonderful breakfasts and excellent coffee served in a lovely setting. Our meal in the restaurant was superb, wonderful staff. Never to be forgotten stay. Excellent wheelchair accessible room. Thank you for a special stay.

We were in Fort Augustus and wanted to look for a nice breakfast place. So glad we decided on Lovat. Besides choice of hot items, there’s also a selection of continental breakfast items. We had the Scottish Breakfast and the smoked salmon with scrambled egg. I also like how the menu was carefully thought through from gluten free cereals to choices of fresh juices to kombucha. A most delicious and enjoyable breakfast with quality produce. Kudos to the chef and team. ||I would also like to commend Aaquib who was most pleasant in attending to my queries. Also compliments to the service team members Eloise, Roberto, Emma, Stuart and Jessica. ||The ambience for the breakfast room was cosy, perfect for enjoying a leisurely breakfast while on your holiday. There’s ample parking spaces outside the hotel.

There is no option to review the food here - but it is superb. Really special food of a quality you don't find in many Highland hotels. This is an independently owned and run hotel and you can see it - there is a lot of attention to detail. The staff are great. The beds are comfy with soft pillows - maybe actually feather which I like. The decor in the public rooms is very nice. The building itself is quite quirky and the rooms are not huge but it is a great location. I swam in Loch Ness and we enjoyed watching the boats navigate the six locks or so in Fort Gus.

Absolutely the best. My stay here was unforgettable, and I will definitely be back. The room was spacious and spotless, the staff were incredibly kind and attentive, and the view from the location was breathtaking. The dishes, especially the dinner, were outstanding and made the experience even more special.

Doing our usual, we packed up camping a day early and booked a hotel for the last night. It was The Lovat this time and it did not disappoint. On arrival we were served a hot toddy like we’ve never had before (still would like the recipe if any staff are reading this, please!), the room was lovely with a rising TV at the end of the bed! Then there was the food. We booked for dinner, bed and breakfast and didn’t realise the dinner was a nine course taster menu! We were a little daunted by this as we’re not big eaters, but, being a taster menu, were assured that it sounded a lot more than it was. We can confirm, we came away full, but not uncomfortable. And the food was certainly worthy of its awards, this is also true of the breakfast.|All in all, a very nice stay and perfect end to our holiday, would highly recommend!

Fort Augustus||A gem! Absolutely Lovely Stay ! Unforgettable Meal!! ||We had the most amazing experience at The Lovat in Fort Augustus: truly one of the highlights of our time in the Highlands!! The hotel strikes the perfect balance between modern comfort and timeless charm: elegant rooms and wonderful staff!! |Cannot recommend enough their Station Road Restaurant. The tasting menu was a journey in itself! |The service was just as exceptional! welcoming, knowledgeable, and deeply attentive without ever being intrusive. |Whether you’re looking for a romantic getaway, a culinary adventure, or just a peaceful place to pause by Loch Ness, |We will be back ! A true gem in the Scottish Highlands!!

A grand hotel with genuine old-style charm from the lovely welcome at reception by Taylor, to its music room and drawing room. Our room was excellent, albeit slightly compact, with excellent fittings and tremendous ambience. The dining room served outstanding food, and all staff were friendly with underlying professionalism. Had free on-site parking.|Very highly recommended.

This was a nice hotel with a great location. The rooms were a bit dated but the other spaces made up for this. The food was insanely good and the dinner we had there was one of the best we had on our 2 week trip. The breakfast was delicious too. This combined with the great service made this a 5-star stop in our minds.

What a positive and wonderful dinning experience for my birthday. The Lovat strategically situated next to the Loch Ness is a real culinary destination. The Station Road restaurant to their Afternoon Teas are inspired with the beauty that each season brings. Fresh flavors, delightful aromas and colours, and fresh ingredients grown in the Lovat kitchen gardens. You can enjoy a real farm to table experience! The service was very attentive and courteous. They offered me a glass of champagne for the birthday. The ambiance was glassy and country chic with a great attention to details. The portions are on the small side as the emphasis is placed on design and presentation of the dish. The lamb was absolutely exquisite.

We came to town in a smallish tour bus and our guide recommended about every restaurant in town except this one. Our best guess is that this is due to Lovat not paying for the advertising. This restaurant is definitely a notch above the rest- especially for lunch where the other restaurants serve a very abridged menu that is sort of like stadium food. The setting is lovely-around the corner and up a hill. When we were there they had a little farmers market on the property. The restaurant has a greenhouse alongside where perhaps the grow vegetables for the kitchen? We didn't ask but it looked that way. The service was kind and attentive. I am not sure why another reviewer complained about it. The dining room was very busy while we were there and we had no trouble at all with service. The greatness of this place is certainly the food which was superb! The bread was delicious and warm with choice of butter or a pesto olive oil. We also had the fillet of salmon, and the hot smoked salmon sandwich with a salad. It was all yummy and perfectly done. The fillet of salmon also came with a roasted root vegetable we had never had or heard before: salsify. It is in the dandelion family and tastes like a mild parsnip. The hot smoked salmon is served cold in a mayo-type salad. It is called "hot smoked" because of the technique used to smoke it, rather than because it is served hot. The salad 'mixed leaves' was perfect- lots of different baby lettuces with perfectly toasted pumpkin seeds! Yummy all around.

Worse stay of our 39 day trip. Reception was extremely cold and unfriendly. The "garden" room was barely big enough for the bed and a small desk. We had the one on the end and you listen to cars on the street. The rain shower was difficult to make sure you rinsed off enough, and the bathroom was so slippery my mom had difficulty getting out of the shower. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, and I will be making sure to let others I know traveling in the area to steer clear. There are many other options to stay in the area.

Wow! I expected nothing but salmon, venison pie, and fish & chips this far from civilization. But here we found the Lovat, an amazing first-rate restaurant. And remarkably cheap for the quality. We paid about $200 to buy four people all starters, main courses, and desserts. Plus two glasses of wine. That was highly reasonable I felt. I ordered the celeriac "cappuccino" which proved to be cream-of-celeriac soup. Good but not amazing. My wife had beet, watermelon, and feta salad and was blown away. Our companions were equally stunned. For my entree, I had "featherblade" which was a lean cut of beef shoulder, along with horseradish, lentils, and more celeriac. Dessert may have been the best of all. Mango panna cotta. It came inside little candies balls! Then there was fresh Scotch strawberries and sorrel sherbet. Amazing. My wife wouldn't give me a single bite of her rhubarb & strawberry mousse dessert despite my pathetic whining. Humph.

This homey hotel was my favorite of our 2 week trip. Room was comfortable and color scheme matched the area. Beautiful quiet park on grounds with rabbits often nibbling around the benches. It is a quaint town all in 10 minute walk. Plenty of nice eating places. A place you really want on your trip!!

Fantastic hotel for a break in Loch Ness. The food in the brasserie is delicious, the venison burger particularly. The breakfast is made to order so the scrambled eggs are fresh and fluffy as opposed to the watery version you often get in hotels. The staff are also wonderful. We travelled with a baby and the staff couldn't have been more accommodating. Highly recommended.

Tasty food made from high quality local ingredients. One of our better meals in Scotland and probably the best in this area of the Highlands.

Chose the Lovat to its proximity to Loch Ness and Skye. Did not expect the level of service at both the hotel and restaurant. We ate at the brasserie. Having a severe shellfish allergy, I am always impressed with restaurants that ask immediately if there are any food allergies they need to be aware of. For starters we had the house cured salmon with salted puréed cucumber and salmon remoulade which was fantastic. Dinner was a stuffed leek with mushrooms and potato dumplings in a blue murder cheese sauce, once again fantastic. Husband had the halibut in mussel broth with kale and potatoes. His plate was cleared before my second bite -guess he liked his as well. The portions are just enough to save room for desert which for me was a carrot cake. This was not your expected carrot cake, but so much better with an addition of hazelnut ice cream. Do not think twice about staying or dining here.