Belgrave Arms Hotel

Its a basic room with a sink, kettle, tea, coffee and hot chocolate, shared bathroom of which there is two to choose from. We had two rooms for our family of 5. Was quite expensive for the product but it was only for one night and the beds were comfy and the cooked breakfast was good, there was a good selection of cereal, yogurts, cakes which kept the kids happy.

For the money paid 5 star. If 50% more then 5 star. If over £100 in total then ok but shared bathroom. Location great. Real Scottish people and service Overall my type of hotel. For the discerning customer maybe a no. Parking good and overall clean

Beware if booking here. Most reputable hotels do not charge (except maybe for a deposit) if your plans change more than 48hours before you arrive. Due to ferry reschedule we had to give one weeks notice to this establishment - BUT - they still took the full amount of the booking - greedy or what? We will never consider them again.

We arrived in Helmsdale on a Sunday afternoon in our motorhome and parked for the night at the harbour. Around 5pm we had a walk into the village for a drink. Only the Belgrave Arms was open so we pushed open the door and entered. A dozen faces, all men, sat at the bar turned to look at us and we were immediately reminded of the pub scene when the hikers turn up at a country pub in American Werewolf in London. The barman growled something along the lines of 'what the xxxx do yous want?' There was plenty of banter flying back and forth around the bar, all liberally sprinkled with F-words. Now at this point, I could see how folks of a nervous disposition could make their excuses and shuffle out and leave a 'rude barman' review on Trip Advisor. Me, I love a pub with a bit of character so fell into conversation with punters at the bar who took delight in ridiculing me for driving a motorhome. The barman, Donald, had made point of ignoring me,which I realised was a kind of test. When, after a few minutes, he eventually turned and asked what I wanted I replied that I was talking and hadn't decided yet. All the locals roared with laughter and Donald smiled, recognising a kindred spirit. Some more Campervan tourists arrived and got the full Donald treatment. One of his milder comments to a somewhat plump lady ordering Diet Coke was 'it's a bit late for that love.' They were from the South of England and luckily loved the unique Scottish humour. Donald makes Frankie Boyle look like Phil Schofield. One of the ladies said she'd laughed so much her ribs hurt and it was the best night she'd ever had in a pub. I'm sure the owners read the 'rude/insulted' reviews on here and wonder whether Donald is good for business. In our case he definitely was. We only went in for 1 drink but stayed for a few as did the other group. It's a somewhat unique sense of humour- dry, deadpan, borderline aggressive but very witty. Typically Scottish. If you're a shrinking violet or don't like being the butt of jokes give the Belgrave a miss. If you think you can handle it, sharpen your tongue, thicken your skin, buckle in and enjoy a free comedy show complete with audience participation. The Belgrave is a pub I'll always remember!

Two of us on motorbikes doing the NC 500, although we weren't staying there we went for drinks, Donald the barman is a star, if you don't like sarcasm then maybe he's not for you, but he's a character. Craig the owner very kindly cooked breakfast for us even though we weren't residents. Cheers

This was our third stop on our North 500 tour. We were aware of previous negative comments but for us, an enjoyable stay. Rooms large and fully equipped, beds comfortable with quality freshy laundered lined. And the best breakfast of the tour. Unlike every other breakfast in Scotland this one wasn't swimming in fat but properly cooked and all to same temperature. We've given 5 stars not because of the hotel as such (it's a 3 star) but because of the obvious care and creativity which is going into their refurb programme, the personalities of the owners and the humour of the barman Donald. There was a good range of interesting 'malts' with the fairest prices we saw on our entire trip. All in all I would happily stay there again and can recommend