Our reason for visiting Portree was to spend time with friends who were spending an extended vacation in the town so we met up with them before we went to Bay View House. They already knew where to find it and were with us when we went to introduce ourselves to the owner.

Immediately he saw there were four of us he became very agitated and aggressive. He insisted that our friends must stand on the edge of the car park and could not enter his garden because his insurance would not permit them to do so. He then took us up the external steps and into the building at the top, where our room was located.

The room had more in common with a cell than a holiday accommodation, but it was clean and we were only staying for three nights so we accepted it.

The owner then proceeded to lecture us on why our friends must not come anywhere near his establishment. Apparently, previous guests had allowed their friends to use the bathroom and he did not want this to happen again. We assured him that our friends had much more comfortable accommodation close by and would not even consider using his bathroom, but he was not convinced.

He then pointed out at great length the importance of locking all three doors leading to our room every time we went out.

Finally, he demanded to be paid in cash there and then. Our money was in our car which was in his car park so he rushed off down to his office accompanied by my husband and left me to lock all three doors. I was so concerned about getting all the doors locked that I missed my footing on the top outside step and fell down the top flight. Fortunately, I did not break any bones but I could not bear my weight on my left ankle and it took me some time to get down the remaining steps and into the office. He was not at all concerned by the fact I could no longer walk and when I mentioned that I had fallen down he said I should have held onto the rail.

Other rules of the establishment include:
1. Guests must be out of their rooms by 10a.m. every day to allow for cleaning. If guests do not co-operate the rooms will be cleaned around them.

2. Rooms to be vacated at 9a.m. on the morning of departure. (He was waiting outside our room at 9a.m to "assist" with our bags).

3. Cars must be parked exactly in accordance with his precise instructions.

Our visit was in June. I am writing this in September and my ankle which was badly sprained has only just recovered.

The Bayview house has a quite attractive tiny outside area which is neatly landscaped. The room we had (triple room) was spartan in both decoration and amenities, but adequate for our needs. The price was quite reasonable. The host, however, helped us immensely both in making arrangements to arrive in Portree by train and ferry, and also in planning our activities during our stay. He went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure our needs were met, and was very friendly. Be sure to ask for Red Deer Travel to take you around the island.

When the owner opened the door to our room, I thought at first we were going to walk through some sort of storage area to the place we would stay, but no, this was it: double bed with tired linens, small metal table and two metal folding chairs, TV on the wall. The "mattress" turned out to be an inner spring. No night stands, no luggage stands, no chest of drawers, no pictures or decoration of any kind. The bathroom, similarly stark: toilet with a half roll of toilet paper on the tank, tiny sink, stall shower. The "closet" was a niche in the wall with a half dozen hangers on a pole. The owner brought us two towels--one each.

Our room was icy cold on a drizzly 50 F/10 C afternoon in July. We turned the heat on and went for a walk, and when we got back from dinner, the heat was off. When we requested more heat, the owner offered to refund our second night's stay--we had foolishly paid in cash for two nights--and we jumped at it. The next morning, we made sure to be completely out of the room by 9 AM, and then couldn't find the owner, who didn't answer his phone either. Given the man's obvious lack of concern for pleasing his guests, we were surprised when he finally answered the door and handed us one night's refund--55 pounds, by the way, no bargain.

Of course our impression of Portree had been colored by this experience, and after a walk around town in the afternoon and another the next morning, we were ready to move on. We drove down the road to a lovely home B&B in Bernisdale where we had a clean, warm, beautifully furnished room that included a big breakfast for just 5 pounds more. Portree is not the only charming seaside town in Scotland, and there are too many pleasant, accommodating B&Bs charging reasonable prices that one should suffer this sort of treatment.

Much to our mystification, Rick Steves calls this place "good value" and the first review on this site is also positive. The owner runs a hostel next door, and perhaps if we had slept under a tree the night before, we might have found Bayview House adequate. For us, it was a nightmare.

I have just returned from staying at Bayview House and felt compelled to write a review after the wonderful stay that my partner and I had there. I arrived in Skye (as a first time visitor to the island) unsure of where to 'stop' but hoping for a room with a reasonably central location in Portree. I was lucky enough to 'bag' the only available room left (that night) in Bayview & was pretty happy from the outset that I only had to walk across the road to be in the market square (where many of the local amenities are).

I thought that the rate for the night was cheaper than I was used to so I wasn't sure what to expect from the quality of the rooms. However, I was very impressed when shown. The room was very tastefully colourful and looked like something out of a catalogue. i.e. very clean and modern to the point where it looked brand new. There was a handy table and chairs to sit and eat a take-away on in the evening as well as all the usual conveniences that you would hope for. When I asked the Proprietor if he could recommend me any walking routes he was more than helpful and spent the time showing me various routes on the map.

I own a bed and breakfast on another of the Scottish Isles and because of this I think I've become very critical of the quality of service at establishments I stay at during my breaks away. However, even I could not fault Bayview.

I will be returning to Skye as soon as my busy work season finishes and I will not stay anywhere other than Bayview. It was great.