Which one of the following reviews of Saddle Mountain Hostel is real? You’ll find the answer at the bottom of this blog.
- “Reminded me of the Taj Mahal.”
- “I’d rather stick needles in my eyes.”
- “It’s like a hotel for walkers.”
As a small business it can be a struggle to make ourselves visible to potential guests. We are an affiliate of Hostelling Scotland (formerly known as SYHA). We are also members of Scottish Independent Hostels and Independent Hostels UK and we advertise on certain specialist walking and cycling online platforms.
We have discovered that having good online reviews is just as important for us in attracting guests. Our guests often post reviews on some of the higher profile online review sites, and we make sure that we respond to all of those, but the biggest collection of reviews of the hostel is on our own website. All of our guests are given an opportunity, via our booking system, to rate their stay at Saddle Mountain Hostel.
In the space of a bit under three years since we took over the hostel we have now passed the point where 500 of our guests have been kind enough to rate us. The ratings cover the topics of Location, Cleanliness, Facilities and Service/Staff. They can all be seen (along with our responses) on our website, and we are very pleased that we have managed so far to stick to an average score of 4.8 out of 5.
We think that this is a good reflection of the time and effort we put into running the hostel. We spend a lot of time cleaning and making sure that the hostel facilities are properly maintained. We are also always thinking of ways in which we can make improvements for the benefit of our guests, and we do try and take on board any suggestions we receive. Since we live on site and run the business ourselves we are able to take the time to chat with our guests and spend time with them.
As for location, we always say that for general tourists we are well placed for visiting both the rest of the Great Glen and the Isle of Skye, whilst for walkers we are in a central position to get to Glen Sheil, the Loch Quoich hills and the Loch Lochy ones. Of course we can’t please everyone, but we also can’t really move the hostel! We feel that what we provide means that it is well worth the visit to Invergarry.
In any case, a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review us. Keep up the good work. We will keep working hard for you.
(Answer “It’s like a hotel for walkers.”)
