The service is "the careless remnant of another age". The kitchen is closed in the evening, even while the staff are obviously still there.
A flooded bathroom, draughty windows, surly bar staff and undistinguished food. The idea of service and quality is a joke, tourists are there to be fleeced, and there is "a complete lack of attention to detail, coupled with a cavalier regard for value for money".
If that is your experience of at least one Hebridean hotel, you are in the company of the Scottish environment minister, for whom a summer tour has proven to be somewhat less than the cushy number some might suppose.
It is not yet Scottish Executive policy for ministers to provide hotel inspections, however. Indeed, it is not executive policy at all. This was from Michael Russell's personal blog, reflecting on the past week's visit to the Western Isles.
There was criticism for arbitrary opening hours and surly bar service on the ferry from Oban to Barra.
But contacted yesterday, Mr Russell was eager to point out this was within the context of enthusiastic praise in his personal blog for other services he encountered on his summer tour.
"The piece I wrote, as anyone who reads it will know, is overwhelmingly positive about the way the Western Isles is determined to succeed, and one small piece of criticism in such a piece seems to have been taken out of context," he said.
On the positive side, the CalMac ferry between Berneray and Harris was "well appointed and had a coffee machine".
He also found staff at the Crown Hotel in Stornoway willing to provide a late meal for 12 people, with the full menu available.
The Caberfeidh Hotel, also in Stornoway, has freshened up from Mr Russell's past memories, with a good restaurant and staff who want to help.
The Castlebay Hotel in Barra may not have changed much in 20 years, he added, but it remains friendly and accommodating. And the modern Taigh Dearg in Lochmaddy was praised for its food.
"Hotels and facilities have improved greatly over the past generation - which makes the continuing few failures more culpable than ever and more obvious than ever," wrote the minister, who used to live in the Western Isles and has travelled extensively around them.
"The biggest problems are those hotels who regard tourists as there only to be fleeced and whose idea of service and quality is a joke."
A spokeswoman for VisitScotland, the executive's tourism agency, commented that the Outer Hebridean islands offer scenery, wildlife and hospitality that make it a world class environment for holidays.
"It is disappointing to hear that on this occasion Mr Russell had a poor experience at one hotel," she said. "However, we are pleased to note that he also uses his blog to highlight the beauty of the area, new investment and the friendly service he encountered elsewhere."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article