The high cost of holiday accommodation in Scotland

[Scoffingbiscuits]

Holiday accommodation is so expensive in Scotland that, despite living in Scotland, we don't even aspire to go away on holiday here except out of season. I know that we could do wild camping, and we've done that on occasion, but it's not really my idea of fun.
We decided to book a short countryside "summer break" in late September, but the prices were still astronomical. So we looked just south of the border (Cumbria) and prices are literally half what they are in Scotland.
I've read somewhere that Edinburgh is now the most expensive place in the world to go on holiday.
I've scoured the holiday accommodation sites. My main discovery is that the cheapest accommodation in Scotland is around Aberdeen airport. That's good to know, but we'd like to explore other areas too. Are we missing something?

A double room for 3 nights at the Cally Palace in Gatehouse of Fleet in early October with lovely swimming pool and breakfast is around £100/night.

We're going away to Perth over the September weekend with my sister and their husbands. Paid under £300 per couple for 3 nights.
Leaving it last minute to book has probably been why you've not been able to find anywhere, there is just less accommodation and more people seeking 'coolcations' away from hot weather.

@Lomonald I've noticed that too. There is a huge thread on education results being lower than England, even though they are comparable to Wales and NI. BBC also did a graphic comparing Scotland and England's PISA results without showing Wales and NI for comparison.

It's crazy. Wanted 2 nights in Lochinver to walk Suilven. £138 per night for 1 person in a B&B is the cheapest.

Expensive and poor quality.

Air b&b is a rip off tbf we booked one in England for a family wedding granted it was a 4 double bedroom place but I choked on the price for 3 days! Touristy areas of Scotland or anywhere is going to expensive you have just said nice countryside and not been particularly specific.

You need to compare Apples with Apples, staying in the centre of Edinburgh is expensive but it is nowhere near the ‘most expensive in the world’, it is still a bargain compared to Dublin for example.

I think £140 - £160 per night is fairly average isn't it? I'm basing that on English cities I've stayed in in the last year or two - Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds.

I’m in the central belt and go to either the Hebrides or Northumberland, the price just over the border is so much less. Places we used to go for a long weekend are now more than I’m willing to pay, for example Taymouth Marina, lovely spot, went there about 9’yeara ago over Christmas, was expensive but not ridiculous, I looked recently and the price was almost double and the reviews were woeful. Same for places in the Cairngorms.

Many places that you could book for 2 nights now have a minimum stay of 3 or 4.

We holiday in Scotland regularly. Either B&B or a holiday cottage for 4 nights. It always used to be a reasonably cheap holiday.
This year I had to double my budget for the holiday cottage to get anything decent…. By which I mean garden for the dogs, king size bed, decent space to eat, and close enough to shops, walks etc…not luxury accommodation. Similarly with B& B, the place we stayed at 3 years ago is charging twice as much now for the same room.
DH reckons it’s because the West Coast 200 route which has become popular because of Social Media.

I went to Liverpool for the weekend recently. I stayed at a really nice, very well located hotel with a nice view and they charge about £55 a night.

Check deal sites for 1, 2 night deals (wowcher, itison, etc)

Caravan parks are very reasonable depending on your requirements. Hoseasons has a lot.

And finally, just try direct. Travelodge, holiday inn aren't always on the comparison sites and plenty of pubs and hotels don't list on those either.

Airbnb is always a lot. I only use it for foreign trips these days.

I agree that the NC500 has a lot to answer for. I think that anyone who rents out accommodation near there just sees it as a massive meal ticket. Campsites on that route charge the same as hotels charge elsewhere.

The short term let regulations have also led to an increase. But I do think that we're seeing cheeky prices.

I agree with you OP though I can only comment on self catering. Before Covid, I booked nice places mostly Highlands and Islands and budged 6 to 700 a week for somewhere nice. I remember one time splurging out about 1300 on somewhere that looked amazing (wasn’t worth it). Now, for the same kind of self catering it’s been between £1300 and £1800 a week. I m fussy though (when I was younger I’d just find cheapest) but now I don’t - eg needs to have 2 bathrooms.

The thing is that places do sell and book up sometimes a year ahead. I’ve already booked where I want for next summer. I am now finding the companies that only do minimum weekly stays in higher seasons to be better value. Suppose it’s because they don’t get left with random odd days here and there they can’t sell.

mind you, with prices increased so have my expectations of the accommodation which lately I’ve found to be good. Just expensive! Even a weekend in a caravan is very pricy these days!

I can quite see why Liverpool is cheaper than Edinburgh though!

I agree that prices have gone up, but there are lots of lovely cottages under your budget here, for example.

The older macdonald resorts in Aviemore often come out very good value

Yep I agree op.
We recently paid £250 for a few dats Airbnb in a lovely house in London. The same amount of days was £350 on Mull.
Don't get me wrong I loved Mull but you'd think London was a bigger draw 😂

I actually think a number of you are very unrealistic with your price expectations. Especially given the increased cost of living. Our favourite hotel for a short break is in Inverness and we happily paid £350+ per night for 5 star luxury and gorgeous views. We’ve also stayed in lodges near Dundee that were a similar price. Worth every penny plus supporting Scottish businesses.

PISA education https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89j0899785o
I see the Scottish maths results are v low

If a sparsely populated country becomes a tourist draw then prices will be high. Also the tourist season is short here in the south where I am -after June to Sept tourism is mainly Xmas and NY they have to maintain the property all year

I agree. Prices have definitely risen over the last couple of years meaning in the summer we now go away for 4 nights Monday to Friday rather than a full week.
Having said that, I've just booked a week in Cumbria in the October break for £229 with Haven.

We're looking for accommodation for a holiday for extended family next year. Were looking Perthshire because it's not too far for everyone to travel but ended up booking Northumberland because of price.

I do think the NC500 has lead to insane accommodation price rises.

The Maldives is more expensive than Elie.

We go to Aviemore every Feb. It’s far cheaper than somewhere like Kitzbuhel or Vail.

Tokyo is more expensive than Edinburgh.

Yes, but they haven't changed substantially since 22-23. There has been a drop in reading in children aged 15 in every country.

And why choose to compare them to England alone with 55 million population, and not Wales or NI which have comparable populations? Because that is the result which looks worse, not the one which is contextualised.

Are you trying to book somewhere over the september weekend when the schools in the west are off? Loads of people book a little holiday then and prices ramp up to match.