Highland Highs: Why the Ambassador Hotel Inverness is the Perfect Base for a Northern Road Trip
- Martin Hesp
- 4 hours ago
- 8 min read
The excitement of travelling abroad while staying in one’s own country might sound like a misnomer, but it is possible as I found out last week. We took a one hour 10 minute flight to Inverness from Bristol so that we could stay in a newly revamped hotel and explore the UK’s most northerly region, and I can report that there were times when I felt we’d travelled further afield than plenty of destinations I could name where you’d need a passport.
And yes, before you say it, I know Scotland is a country in its own right - indeed, I dedicated my newspaper column last weekend to supporting the idea of Scottish independence.
The Ease of Heading North
But it was the ease of getting there that really impressed me from the get-go. Just leave your car with Holiday Extras Meet and Greet at Bristol Airport, shuffle through security and just over an hour later, step out into what really does feel like another country.
I like to travel by train whenever possible, but the last time I went this far north by rail it took over 10 hours and cost far more. We paid £19 each one way on EasyJet and the moment we stepped out of the plane at Inverness airport there was a sense that we had somehow arrived in a different world.
The UK had a real taste of spring last week and we were very fortunate indeed - so we used every last ray of the warm sunshine to see whatever we could in what really is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Boutique Luxury at the Ambassador Hotel Inverness
We were invited north of the border by a small local hotel chain. Black Sheep Hotels owns a handful of excellent establishments up in that part of the world and we began our stay at the newly revamped Ambassador, located in the heart of Inverness.
The town has seen a lot of change in recent times, but few things are as impressive as the transformation of the old Strathness House on Ardross Terrace, right next to the cathedral on the famous River Ness. Now rebranded as the Ambassador Hotel, its refurbishment has been a great deal more than a lick of paint. The group, owned by the siblings Sanjay and Rachna Narang, has poured some £6 million into the site, turning two 19th-century Victorian townhouses into a boutique sanctuary.
The rooms are “newly appointed” in the truest sense - think 19th-century travel themes meeting modern rainfall showers and beds so comfortable they threaten to derail your itinerary. Fresh and thoughtfully done, with that pleasing sense that someone has actually considered what a guest might actually want. After a day on the road (and there would be many, many miles of road ahead for my wife and I) it felt like somewhere you could properly switch off. And that was partly thanks to the incredibly helpful and friendly staff.
Scottish-Indian Fusion: A Culinary Masterstroke
Another masterstroke is the food. The hotel’s restaurant, Talk of the Town, has what could be called a “Scottish-Indian fusion” menu that is extremely enjoyable and satisfying. Under executive chef Sinclair Pinto, who has Michelin-star DNA, the cuisine manages to pair the Highland harvest with authentic Bombay spice.
I realise the weather doesn’t always play ball up in Scotland. And had the mists and rain rolled in, I’d have been happy to curl up in our large suite overlooking the river and read a book - but the sun was out, so off we went to do some sightseeing. Which is a huge understatement, because we really did go for it. On one day alone, I drove our hire car some 300 miles. And why not? I repeat: Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world - so if the weather is good it seems reasonable to see as much as you can.
Journey to the Frontier: Lairg and Bonar Bridge
The route north from Inverness becomes wilder and more remote every mile you go. You pass through places whose names sound like fragments of an older language - Bonar Bridge, Lairg, Helmsdale - each one a tiny punctuation mark in a vast landscape that grows steadily wilder.
At Bonar Bridge, the Kyle of Sutherland river narrows and glints beneath the road. Here the water is tidal and shifting - the surrounding hills soft and ancient. The place somehow feels like border country. You’ve left the main road behind and you are on a threshold. Beyond, the Highlands proper stretch north and west in earnest. Directly north you reach the village of Lairg, which somehow feels even more like a frontier. You still see a few fields and man-made parts of the landscape, but north and west everything is wild.
Driving the Highland Wilds
For many people the drive so far may have been enough. You’ll certainly have seen some impressive countryside. But driving in the far north is not like motoring anywhere else in Britain. The roads are quieter. You can travel for miles without seeing another car. And the road surfaces - something we all grumble about down south - are far superior. I’d say the ratio of potholes in these parts is 1-to-100 compared to our own highways and byways - probably because of that lack of traffic.
The driver can enjoy long, sweeping stretches of road. Driving like it used to be, is how I’d put it. You also come across lengthy sections of single track road - the one north of Lairg to Tongue is over 45 miles in length, which would be a nightmare in the busy West Country. But up here it’s fine - at this time of year, at least. We came down it after doing a huge loop up around Thurso, and we only passed one other vehicle on that entire section of single road.
Which is just as well because the landscape demands the driver’s attention. Wide moorlands roll away to distant hills. Lochs appear unexpectedly, catching the sky in their still surfaces. The light changes constantly - a patchwork of sun and shadow drifts across peat-bog, mountain, loch and lochan. Scotland has more than 30,000 fresh water lochs. It is the kind of scenery that makes you pull over, again and again, simply to look or take a thousand photos.
Helmsdale and the Flow Country
Once we’d reached Lairg at the start of our lasso-shaped drive, we headed towards the coast and the village of Helmsdale which, you could say, is where the Highlands meet the North Sea.
It’s an attractive and historic place - a village born from the hardships of the Highland Clearances - of which we were to see plenty of evidence. Somehow the quaint fishing harbour belies the strife that went on here a couple of centuries or more ago.
Next comes “the big empty”. The drive from Helmsdale up to Thurso takes you across what’s known as the Flow Country - an area of deep peat, dotted with bog pools, that forms the heart of the Caithness and Sutherland peatlands. I’ll be honest: I did not know anything like this vast and empty landscape existed in the UK. Nor did I know that there would be so many ruined old crofts still in evidence. Even a visiting Martian could see there was a time when the human population of this wild place was removed for some reason or other. Stupidity, cruelty, and greed, being the driving force behind one George Granville Leveson-Gower, the 1st Duke of Sutherland.
Thurso and the Costa Del North
No, we did not go to John O’Groats. Why not? Well, because I’ve been to famous “most westerly, southerly, easterly” places before and those tourist magnets do not appeal. And anyway, nearby Dunnet Head, which you can see, from Thurso happens to be the real “most northerly” spot in the UK.
And the ancient town of Thurso does hit the right boxes. Partly because it’s a fine and unpretentious little town - and also because it was lunchtime, so we enjoyed excellent fish and chips right there on Britain’s most northerly seafront promenade, looking across the Pentland Firth to the Orkneys.
From Thurso, the road bends west, and the landscape shifts again. This is perhaps the most remarkable stretch of all - a place where mountains rise more abruptly, where the land feels older and more elemental. I’d never really thought about the “Costa Del North” before, but the roof of mainland Britain is one of the most remarkable coastlines I have ever travelled along.
The small road weaves its way through lonely, empty, hills - passing through isolated communities such as Dounrey, Melvich, Armadake and Bettyhill - before depositing you beside the truly magnificent sea-lock at Tongue. Wow! And thrice wow! I loved it. I loved every mile of it.
A Dreamscape Return
And I wanted to continue, which is possible because that valiant little highway will take you on to Durness and eventually down the West Coast past Cape Wrath. I dearly hope I shall return to do that some other time. Because the Scottish gloaming was beginning and dark clouds marshalling their forces out west looked like they might contain more than rain.
You wouldn’t want to be out here if snow started falling, so we took that tiny road from Tongue all the way down to Lairg - and I mention it once again because driving down it is like travelling through a dreamscape. The emptiness of the landscape somehow enters your soul.
To leave Bristol in the morning and, by lunchtime, be driving through such places is a rare and wonderful thing. It reminds you that Britain still has its wild corners. Its quiet zones. Its edges. These places are not so far away at all - and you can stay in extremely comfortable and reasonably priced places like the Ambassador Hotel.
Fact File
Located on the banks of the River Ness, The Ambassador Hotel is boutique hotel with 14 individually designed rooms.
Telephone: 01463 232765
Website: www.theambassadorinverness.com
Rates: Prices start from £376 for two nights for two people - book before 30th April 2026 to take advantage of a special summer promotion with discounts of up to 25% (on bookings taken before 25th October 2026).
Travel Essentials
Martin uses Holiday Extras, the market leader in UK airport parking, hotels, lounges, and transfers. In 2025 its customers saved an average of £200 per trip by booking in advance.
Booking airport parking means you can enjoy more holiday with less hassle. Plus with Flextras, if you need to cancel or amend you can without charge. Five days’ Meet & Greet parking at Bristol Airport is available for £138.00 based on arrival on 16/04/2026.
For more information and to book, visit HolidayExtras.com or call 0800 316 5678.
Comments