The Story of the Royal Hotel, Ullapool

Early Days...

It is not known exactly when the Royal Hotel first opened its doors, but it certainly dates back to the nineteenth century. It is referred to in a guidebook published in 1894. In those days the Royal was a much more modest building than it is today. At that time, Ullapool was a remote little fishing village, with poor mainland communications, and there was certainly no tourist traffic in that era, other than perhaps a very small number of well-do-do gentry.

A Coaching Hotel...

It is believed that the hotel's main function at that time was as the western link in the Garve–Ullapool mail coach service. This horse-drawn coach connected Ullapool with the Garve–Inverness railway, which opened in the late 1800s. There was a stable block at the eastern end of the Royal Hotel's site and it was here that the horses used on the mail coach would have been stabled. Once the motor car superseded the horse, this building was later converted into an hotel annexe. In 1960 a major fire all but destroyed the hotel and it was the mid-1960s before the 'new' Royal Hotel took shape. In later years, further work was carried out.

Over the years thousands of people have enjoyed staying at the Royal, from the early days when it was privately run by the McKenzie family of Gairloch right through to more recent times when it was operated by large coach companies.