noplasticshowers

There’s the Rocpool Reserve hotel and there is the original Rocpool Restaurant, oh and there is probably some intriguing backstory but NPS never found out what it is. In any case we did both. They are not the same.

Spring has just showed up in Inverness (at the beginning of May) and the flowers and Gorse are in full riot.

More pollen for you

It was a gorgeous blue clear day.

The Rocpool Reserve is situated on the same hill as the castle only up a bit. A nice walking loop into town takes you past the cathedral and over the bridge where you will find the Rocpool Restuarant (we’re telling you, something is fishy).

On arrival at Inverness airport

Inverness airport is very small and finding a taxi is a thing. A bunch of us travelers simply piled into a big van and drove in a friendly carpool.

We were assigned room #4. A nice room to be sure, but a bit noisy if you are from the country. Road noise into the wee hours and then starting again at daybreak. And at 7am be prepared for staff arrival on the sidewalk below the window. Best to ask for “not room #4 please.”

Sitting room

Bedroom

The bathroom is very large and appointed to be wheelchair accessible. That makes it all a bit strange in design but not unreasonable. The shower is glass from way back when glass showers were not a thing yet. The controls are tricky.

Big ole tub

Anyway, the Rockpool Reserve is nice, but a bit old school. Room service breakfast was very good indeed (farm fresh eggs!) but delivered late which has NPS blogging furiously before deadline with no time to pack. The bar is also old school the good news being that you can get a negroni and a French 75 right off the bat with only slight shenanigans.

This is an elegant boutique that seems to have developed before the boutique blossoming. It caters to a slightly older demographic if we do say so ourselves.

Old, new? Who knows

Inverness architecture is all over the map. There is no sign of an architectural control board or any control whatsoever. Things got wonky in the ’70s.

The Ness

Which is kind of too bad, because the city itself is gorgeously set.

Rocpool restaurant is excellent. Great food. Super fresh ingredients. A small but world class wine selection. Great wait staff. Highly recommended. We’ll be back to that Rocpool for sure. (They even made us drink some Scotch Whisky and it did not suck.)

From the walking bridge

Three showerheads for Rocpool Reserve. A nice place in not quite the right ways for NPS.

Beautiful Inverness