Our next stop was the Inver Lodge Hotel and Chez Roux Restaurant in the quiet fishing village of Lochinver. The purpose-built 21-room luxury hotel is in an elevated position overlooking the village and the still waters of the loch.
I was thrilled by my room. It was spacious, with incredible views, a dressing room, a luxury bathroom and an open fireplace.
Mike, too, was thrilled with his room but seemed a little embarrassed, no doubt thinking that I’d drawn the short straw. It was only when I invited Mike to see my room that he realised we’d both drawn very long straws.
One of the items on my bucket list was to see a stag, so I asked Nicholas Gorton, the General Manager, whether he’d seen any recently.
The previous night, he said, some were on the lawn with one squarely in front of the bedroom windows roaring all through the night. Asked what draws people here, his response was hardly surprising: peace and tranquillity, and an area so sparsely populated that you can go for a walk in the incredible countryside and not see another person.
It’s one of those rare places where you can retreat from the stresses of everyday life and reset your mind – and it was hard to doubt that when some of the guests who were there during my stay had been coming to the hotel for 28 consecutive years.
After a fantastic meal in the fine dining restaurant – delicious, beautifully presented and worthy of the Roux name – we had a good night’s rest and a traditional hearty Scottish breakfast before heading to our next destination in Wester Ross. That meant taking the Ghost through some of the region’s most spectacular countryside.
The car performed perfectly, with the whisper-like hush of the engine only interrupted by Mike and myself enthusiastically pointing out the incredible beauty of the area to one another.
With the starlight roof on and the heated and massaging seats doing their job, the Ghost effortlessly tackled the tight bends, drops and inclines like a sporting GT.
I glanced at the average fuel consumption icon and was amazed to see that it had climbed to an astonishing 31.8 mpg. Bang went those well-worn jibes about Rolls-Royces being thirsty!
To be continued…
Click here to read part one of our North Coast 500 Adventure
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