I have stayed at the Port Royal Hotel three times now; each time with a group of good friends for a weekend of golf and fishing (and eating and drinking) on the isle of Bute. And we will go back again (and again...) Dag (of British / Norwegian origin, I think) and Olga (definitely Russian) are excellent hosts. Dag's passion... more

The warmth of welcome upon my arrival at the Port Royal (even at a at a late hour )was amazing! Dag the landlord poured me a foaming ale and soon had steaming hearty soup, bread and salad on my pub table... then came a superb beefy main course. Wasn't expecting that; most places would have served maybe a pint or... more

Sailing our yacht in the west of Scotland we found this excellent stopover. The village of Port Bannatyne has a marina and boatyard with facilities for visiting boats. Just 50 metres from the marina is The Port Royal Hotel which made us feel really welcome. Olga is the Russian inn-keeper and provides big plates of excellent seafood, and beer poured... more

The Port Royal is also The Russian Tavern, which is a curious thing to find on a Scottish Island. Beer, wine, vodkas, decorations and the chef - all Russian. But the welcome and the service are excellent and the food quite amazing - lots of freshly sourced and cooked, often local produce turned into mostly traditional Russian dishes - even... more

An eerie atmosphere, on arrival wondered if we were actually welcome or not. Did not feel like an hotel in the slightest, more like a fairly poor attempt to give a Russian theme to a one room pub. Accomodation was off site, up a side street and of poor quality. I felt the husband and wife team were not totally... more

For the owner Dag food is medicene. No pre prepared defrosted meals here. His family hand picked many of the ingrediants of our vegeterian breakfast and you could witness that he had made a big effort. Wild mushrooms, locally grown hand picked herbs from the hills of Bute and delitefully sweet lambs leaves adorned our plate, aswell as fresh that... more

Staying over on business I was looking for something different to your typical one-night stay at the Holiday Innn Express et-al......and boy did I find it at the Port Royal. Amiable host Dag kept me well fed and watered as we put the world to right. Later joined by a charming fisherwoman and her fisherman complete with their days of... more

We have now stayed at the Port Royal four times. The food is excellent (it sometimes seems the seafood crawls out of the bay and across the street, it's so fresh) and the bar offers an excellent selection of real ales, cider and perry, plus reasonably priced fine wines. Be warned - it is not the place for burgers, chips... more

Really nice and unexpected pub - not your average Scottish small island pub - great food and beer selection. Really nice people running the place. Don't come here if you want a cheap pint and a pie and chips; do come here if you want something a bit more memorable and out of the ordinary. more