A Freshly Renovated B&B on the Quiet Side of Inverness
Pull up at the white house on Culduthel Road and you'll leave the city noise behind: gravel crunching underfoot, tall Scots pines overhead, and a black sign by the door that simply reads Lochearn Bed & Breakfast. Step inside and the renovation is the first thing you notice. Parquet floors run warm underfoot, deep velvet headboards anchor crisp white linen, and tartan rugs give every room a quietly Scottish finish.
Mornings are the reason guests keep coming back. Breakfast is a generous continental spread of pastries, cheese and fresh berries with eggs cooked to order, and it is the single most-praised thing about a stay here. The rooms hold up their end too, with cleanliness and comfort the highest-rated parts of the stay, and marble-finished walk-in showers that several guests describe as the best of their trip. Free private parking on the drive means the car stays put while you plan the day.
The south-side setting works in your favour. A 24-hour supermarket and a carvery pub are a six-minute walk, the River Ness is ten minutes by car, and Loch Ness, Culloden and the start of the North Coast 500 are all within easy reach. Loch Earn works best for couples and Highland road-trippers who want a calm, comfortable base with a proper breakfast, rather than a city-centre crash pad.
Twelve Rooms, From Snug Twins to a Garden Studio
The twelve rooms give you a choice of how to do the Highlands. Couples after space book the Super King Deluxe Double, forty square metres of parquet, velvet and garden light on the ground floor. Families take the Family Room with Shower or the Deluxe Family Apartment, which adds a private entrance, a kitchenette and its own outdoor dining table. The Larch Wood Cabin and the Studio with Garden View suit longer stays, with room to spread out after a day on the road.
Whatever the room, the finish is the same: crisp linen, flat-screen TVs, tea and coffee trays, and those marble-tiled bathrooms with rainfall walk-in showers. Several rooms sit entirely on the ground floor, and most look over the garden rather than the road, so nights stay genuinely quiet.
What's Breakfast Like at Loch Earn?
Breakfast is served in a sunlit conservatory looking onto the garden, and it is the part of the stay guests talk about most. Expect a buffet of pastries, cheese, fresh strawberries and blueberries alongside eggs cooked the way you ask, with vegetarian options covered. On bright mornings the light pours through the glass while you plan the day over a second coffee.
The hosts, a couple guests know as Iggy and Mitin, have been welcoming visitors here for years, and reviews repeatedly single out how helpful they are. Check-in runs from 15:30 to 22:00, so let them know your arrival time, and be up in time for breakfast before the 10:00 check-out on your final morning.
Why Book Loch Earn?
Loch Earn is strongest for couples and Highland road-trippers who want a spotless, well-fed base on the calm side of Inverness.
Breakfast worth waking for
Eggs cooked to order plus a fresh continental spread, the most-praised feature across 1,868 reviews.
Spotless, newly renovated rooms
Cleanliness and comfort draw the warmest praise, with velvet headboards, tartan rugs and marble walk-in showers.
Free parking, easy touring
Private on-site parking with no reservation needed, and Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness about 25 minutes away.
A quiet garden setting
Garden-view rooms and a patio on the leafy south side of the city, ten minutes by car from the centre.
Check Availability at Loch Earn
- No booking fees
- Pay securely online, cash only needed for extras
Interesting Points About Loch Earn
- The sign by the front door reads 'Lochearn Bed & Breakfast' as one word, white on black, so trust your sat nav when it delivers you to number 165 Culduthel Road
- The marble-clad, Turkish-style bathrooms are a signature of hosts Iggy and Mitin, the long-established couple guests mention by name in their reviews
- Inverness Kart Raceway, an indoor karting circuit, is a nine-minute walk away and makes a surprisingly good rainy-afternoon backup plan
- The 24-hour Asda superstore six minutes' walk from the door makes the three kitchenette units (apartment, cabin and studio) genuinely self-sufficient for longer Highland stays
Rooms & Accommodation at Loch Earn
Super King Deluxe Double - 12
Up to 2 guests · 40 m² · Ground floor
The flagship room: forty square metres of parquet and velvet with a seating bench at the foot of the bed and a ground-floor position. Best for couples who want proper space to unpack on a longer Highland stay.
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Deluxe King Room
Up to 2 guests · 25 m² · Upper floor
The most photogenic room in the house, with satin bedding, a studded velvet headboard and a wall of triple windows over the garden. Choose this if you want the signature velvet-and-tartan look at its richest, with a marble walk-in shower to match. It sits up a flight of stairs, so pack accordingly.
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Deluxe Family Apartment
Up to 4 guests · 45 m² · Ground floor · Private entrance
Two bedrooms' worth of beds, a kitchenette and your own outdoor table, all on the ground floor with a private entrance. A good fit for families because everyone comes and goes without crossing the main house.
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Family Room with Shower - Room 5
Up to 3 guests · 45 m² · Upper floor
A big attic room with sloped ceilings, a porthole window and space for a family to spread out. Best for parents with one or two older children who want everyone in the same room. Reached by stairs only.
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King Room - Room 1
Up to 2 guests · 25 m² · Ground floor
A kingsize bed, a garden outlook and a proper writing desk by the window, all on the ground floor. Best for couples who want step-free access to the room without giving up the renovated finish, and handy for anyone who likes to spread out the maps and plan the next day's driving over a cup of tea.
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King Room - Room 2
Up to 2 guests · 25 m² · Ground floor
Calmer champagne-and-cream tones in the same renovated shell, with a kingsize bed, a marble walk-in shower and a ground-floor position. Choose this if you prefer soft neutrals to the bolder velvet rooms but still want the comfort and cleanliness scores the house is known for.
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King Room - Room 4
Up to 2 guests · 25 m² · Ground floor
A chandelier, a fireplace surround and a tufted bench at the foot of the bed give this garden-view king the most traditional character of the four king rooms. Best for couples marking an occasion who want something a little special without stretching to the top-tier rate.
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Deluxe Family Room
Up to 3 guests · 28 m² · Upper floor
A garden-view family room with the house's plushest crushed-velvet headboard, a dressing table and space for three. A good fit for a small family with a teenager or three friends touring the Highlands together. It sits on the upper floor and is reached by stairs only, so it suits guests who travel light.
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Double Room - Room 3
Up to 2 guests · 20 m² · Ground floor
The straightforward double, with mirrored wardrobes that make the twenty square metres feel bigger and the same marble bathroom finish as the dearer rooms. Choose this if you want the renovated look at a sensible mid-range rate, with a ground-floor position that makes loading the car easy.
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Small Twin Room - Room 6
Up to 2 guests · 20 m² · Upper floor
The lowest rate in the house, up in the eaves with two single beds, a garden outlook and a private shower room. Best for friends touring the Highlands who mostly need a clean bed, a hot shower and a big breakfast before a day on the road. Reached by stairs only.
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Larch Wood Cabin
Up to 2 guests · 28 m² · Ground floor · Private entrance
A self-contained chalet in the grounds with its own door, a kitchenette and outdoor furniture for light evenings. Choose this if you want B&B mornings with self-catering independence the rest of the day.
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Studio with Garden View
Up to 4 guests · 69 m² · Upper floor · Private entrance
The largest unit in the house at sixty-nine square metres, with two bathrooms, a kitchenette and a private entrance up its own stairs. Best for two couples or a family settling in for a longer Highland tour.
Check PricesIs Loch Earn Right for You?
Best Suited For
- Couples touring the Highlands who want a quiet, comfortable base with a memorable breakfast
- Road-trippers driving the North Coast 500 or day-tripping to Loch Ness, with free parking on site
- Families with children over 12, especially in the apartment or studio with their own entrances
- Early flyers and arrivals: Inverness Airport is a 15 to 20 minute drive
- Self-caterers who want a kitchenette unit with a 24-hour supermarket a short walk away
Worth Considering Alternatives If
- You want to walk out the door into restaurants and nightlife: the city centre is ten minutes by car or a half-hour walk
- You are travelling with children under 12, as the house welcomes older children only
- You need a slow morning: check-out is 10:00
- You are a very light sleeper, since some guests notice sound carrying between rooms
Amenities & Facilities
Breakfast & Dining
- Continental buffet breakfast with eggs cooked to order, served daily
- Vegetarian breakfast options
- Sunlit conservatory breakfast room
- Outdoor dining area in the garden
In Every Room
- Free Wi-Fi
- Flat-screen TV
- Tea and coffee tray with kettle
- Hardwood or parquet floors
- Heating and crisp linen
- Socket beside the bed
Bathrooms
- Private bathroom in every room
- Marble-tiled walk-in showers
- Free toiletries and hairdryer
- Towels included
Parking & Outdoors
- Free private on-site parking, no reservation needed
- Accessible parking
- Garden with seating
- Patio and outdoor furniture
Good for Self-Caterers
- Kitchenette units: apartment, cabin and studio
- Private entrances on the kitchenette units
- 24-hour supermarket six minutes' walk away
Location & Getting Around
Loch Earn sits on Culduthel Road, a leafy residential street on the south side of Inverness where the city thins out into gardens and pine trees. It is a quiet base rather than a doorstep-of-the-nightlife one, and that is precisely the appeal: you get free parking, garden views and proper sleep, with the centre about ten minutes away by car or a half-hour walk. Stagecoach city buses run from Evan Barron Road, a short walk from the door, if you would rather not drive in.
The immediate neighbourhood covers the practical bases unusually well. A 24-hour Asda superstore with a petrol station is six minutes away on foot, which keeps the kitchenette units genuinely self-sufficient, and the Three Witches, a carvery pub with a beer garden beside the supermarket, does the nearest sit-down dinner. Lochardil House Hotel, nine minutes away, is the local pick for a smarter evening out, and there is even an indoor karting circuit within a nine-minute walk for rainy afternoons.
As a touring base it is hard to fault. Inverness Castle and the River Ness are a six-minute drive, Culloden Battlefield and the Bronze Age Clava Cairns sit just east of the city, and Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness is about 25 minutes south-west. The North Coast 500 starts from the city too, so the drive of a lifetime begins more or less at the end of the road. Inverness Airport is a 15 to 20 minute drive, the railway station connects directly to Edinburgh and Glasgow, and if the house is fully booked, Fairwinds is the sister-scale B&B option closer to the centre.
- Inverness Castle: 6-minute drive. Reopened in February 2026 after a £47 million redevelopment, with a viewing platform over the River Ness
- Inverness Museum and Art Gallery: 1.8 miles. Free entry, covering Highland geology, Jacobite history and Pictish stones
- Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle: 25-minute drive. Scotland's most famous loch, with castle ruins and boat cruises at the northern end
- Culloden Battlefield: 13-minute drive. Site of the 1746 battle that ended the Jacobite Rising, with an excellent visitor centre
- Clava Cairns: 16-minute drive. 4,000-year-old Bronze Age burial cairns and standing stones near Culloden
- Inverness Kart Raceway: 9-minute walk. Indoor karting circuit, a handy rainy-day option
- Three Witches carvery: 6-minute walk. The nearest sit-down meal, with a daily carvery and beer garden
- Asda Inverness Superstore: 6-minute walk. Open 24 hours, with a petrol station alongside
Getting to Key Locations
Photo: Lucas Kendall, CC BY-SA 2.0
Inverness Castle
The city's centrepiece reopened in February 2026 after a £47 million transformation. Do the exhibition, then take the viewing platform for the best look down the River Ness. Six minutes' drive from the B&B, or combine it with the museum next door.
View on Map
Photo: Suicasmo, CC BY-SA 4.0
Loch Ness
Twenty-five minutes down the A82 and you are at Urquhart Castle, the classic Loch Ness viewpoint. The loch holds more water than every lake in England and Wales combined. Go early or late to dodge the coach crowds, and take the boat cruise if the weather plays along.
View on Map
Photo: Stanley Howe, CC BY-SA 2.0
Culloden Battlefield
The moor where the 1746 Jacobite Rising ended, kept by the National Trust for Scotland with one of the country's best visitor centres. Thirteen minutes' drive, and the 4,000-year-old Clava Cairns are five minutes further on, so do both in one outing.
View on MapHow to Get to Loch Earn
- From Inverness Airport: By car or taxi, follow the A96 towards Inverness, then take the southern route to Culduthel Road; the drive takes 15 to 20 minutes. By public transport, take a Stagecoach bus into the city-centre interchange on Academy Street first, then change as below, and allow well over an hour in total.
- From Inverness Railway Station: The house is about 2.4 miles south of the station. A taxi takes around ten minutes. Alternatively, take a Stagecoach city bus towards Culduthel and get off near Evan Barron Road, a short walk from the door.
- Arriving by car: Set your sat nav for 165 Culduthel Road, IV2 4BH. Look for the white house with the black Lochearn Bed & Breakfast sign and pull straight onto the gravel drive; parking is free and no reservation is needed.
Inverness City Guide
Inverness calls itself the capital of the Highlands and earns it. The compact centre sits on the River Ness, with the rebuilt castle and its viewing platform at the top of the hill, the Victorian Market and Leakey's second-hand bookshop tucked behind the high street, and live folk music most nights at Hootananny. On a rising tide, bottlenose dolphins hunt the narrows at Chanonry Point on the Moray Firth, one of the best places in Britain to watch them from land.
Summer visits are best timed around the Inverness Highland Games in July or the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival at the end of July, though rooms across the city tighten fast on those weekends. Heading north afterwards on the A9, the Commercial Hotel in Alness makes a handy next stop on the east-coast leg of the North Coast 500.
13 Things to Do in Inverness
A 12-minute tour of the area covering 13 favourite stops, from the castle and the River Ness to the day trips you can plan from the house.
Is Loch Earn worth it?
Yes, especially for couples and Highland road-trippers who want a spotless, freshly renovated base with one of the best B&B breakfasts in Inverness: cleanliness and comfort draw the warmest praise, parking is free, and Loch Ness and Culloden are short drives away. Skip it if you want to walk everywhere from the door, as the city centre is ten minutes by car, or if you are travelling with children under 12.
What Guests Say About Loch Earn
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Fabulous
Guests come back to the same three things: the breakfast, the spotless newly renovated rooms and the easy free parking. Cleanliness and comfort draw the warmest praise, and couples rate the quiet location highly. The few quibbles are practical ones, mostly some sound between rooms and the early 10:00 check-out.
An exceptional stay from start to finish. I genuinely loved everything about the place.
Dorothy
An exceptional stay from start to finish. I genuinely loved everything about the place.
2026-06-06The accommodation is new and comfortable, with a large bathroom and parking on site. Excellent breakfast. The area is wonderfully quiet, about ten minutes by car from the centre.
2026-06-04Well-appointed, clean and comfortable room. The walls were a touch thin, but not enough to be a big deal. We would stay again.
2026-06-02A great stay in a clean, comfortable room. Excellent breakfast with plenty of choice, continental or cooked, and friendly, helpful staff.
2026-05-31A beautiful property with an amazing breakfast, in a great location for exploring.
2026-05-24Stayed twice in the same week. The room was clean, the bed comfy and the bathroom spacious, with a great shower. The breakfast choice was huge.
2026-05-23Superb. A comfortable, clean bed and breakfast, ideal for an early start at the airport.
2026-05-22Good to Know Before You Book
Tell the hosts when you're arriving
Check-in runs from 15:30 to 22:00 and the house is not staffed around the clock, so share your arrival time when you book and someone will be there to greet you.
Check-out is 10:00
Mornings end earlier than at many hotels, so plan your last day around it. Breakfast is served in good time, and early departers have been given packed breakfasts on request.
Cancellation terms vary by rate
Each rate shows its exact cancellation and prepayment conditions before you confirm, so check the terms on the option you pick. Room payment is handled securely online, and it helps to carry a little cash for any extras at the property.
An adult-friendly, car-friendly base
Children must be over 12 to stay, and a car makes the most of the location. Free private parking is included, and the city centre is about ten minutes' drive.
Photos of Loch Earn
Frequently Asked Questions
Loch Earn is a bed and breakfast at 165 Culduthel Road, in a quiet residential area on the south side of Inverness, about ten minutes by car from the city centre. It should not be confused with the freshwater loch of the same name in Perthshire, which is roughly two and a half hours' drive south.
Check-in is from 15:30 to 22:00 and check-out is until 10:00. The house is not staffed around the clock, so let the hosts know your arrival time when you book.
Breakfast is a continental buffet with eggs cooked to order, served daily in the conservatory: pastries, cheese, fresh fruit and berries, with vegetarian options available. Whether it is included depends on the rate you choose, and that is shown clearly before you confirm your booking.
Free private parking is available on site, with no reservation needed; you simply pull onto the gravel drive. Accessible parking is provided, and guests doing longer Highland tours often leave the car all day and use the nearby bus into town.
Pets are not allowed at the property. If you are touring with a dog, you will need to look at pet-friendly alternatives in the area.
Children older than 12 are welcome, and guests aged 18 and over are charged as adults. Cots are not available, so the house suits families with teenagers rather than young children.
The airport is about nine to ten miles away, which is a 15 to 20 minute drive or taxi ride. By bus, travel into the city-centre interchange first and change to a Culduthel-bound city service, allowing well over an hour in total.
Three units are set up for self-catering: the Deluxe Family Apartment, the Larch Wood Cabin and the Studio with Garden View. Each has a private entrance, a kitchenette with kitchenware and a dining table, and the 24-hour supermarket six minutes' walk away covers supplies.
Other Great Stays in the Scottish Highlands
Fairwinds, Inverness
A warm, personal B&B on the other side of the city, a ten-minute walk from the centre, with a cooked Scottish breakfast guests rave about.
26 Green Drive, Inverness
A self-catering house on a quiet residential street, a good fit if you want a whole place to yourself in the same part of the city.
Commercial Hotel, Alness
A friendly Highland local about 25 minutes north up the A9, well placed for the east-coast leg of the North Coast 500.
Ready to Book Loch Earn?
Lock in your dates for one of Inverness's easiest bases: breakfast cooked to order, free parking on the drive and a quiet garden setting on the south side of the city.
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