Auchlea B&B and Fiona Garvie

In the fall of 2002 I spent three months working at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. Well, I didn’t work the entire time. Suzie joined me in Scotland me for a little over two weeks, and one of those was spent in Dornoch, my favorite village in the world. We rented a self-catering bungalow for the week. Among other things, we golfed at Royal Dornoch, toured Dornoch Cathedral, went to the Glenmorangie distillery, and shopped at the Dornoch Jail, a trendy, upscale shop located in of all things the former Dornoch jail. Suzie eyed a beautiful necklace and after we headed back to Glasgow she regretted that she didn’t buy it. Immediately I knew it would be the perfect Christmas gift, but it would require that I go back to Dornoch, and as long as I was there I’d would have to play Royal Dornoch again. I’ll stop at nothing to make her happy.

As I planned my trip I called several B&B’s in Dornoch before I spoke with Fiona. When I asked if she had any vacancies she told me to quit fooling around. I was surprised but it turned out that she thought I was her cousin from Canada playing a practical joke. I finally convinced her that I was really looking for a room and booked it. I arrived after dark on a Friday in November. I checked in and went down to the 1 Up restaurant for dinner. Saturday I played Tain Golf Club and bought the necklace. Upon returning, I showered and got ready to go out to dinner. Auchlea has a common room where I first watched the Scotland versus Romania international rugby match. Then the inquisition began. I was joined by Fiona’s husband John. He is headmaster at the local school and was curious to know more about what I did and what brought me to Dornoch. To make an already long story shorter, the Garvies invited me to join the family for dinner. They made me feel right at home and since then I consider them my friends.

I’ve been back to stay at Auchlea several times, during the 2007 trip with Don, Greg and Ed, also last year with Suzie and Dave and Robin McMahon. Fiona (in the middle) had heard quit a bit about Suzie and was quite eager to meet her. During breakfast, Fiona asked if she could join us as she ate her breakfast. Of course! She said that she felt unprofessional as an innkeeper. Poppycock! It was as though she was part of our group. It’s always a pleasure to stay at Auchlea and see Fiona and John if he really still lives there.

I haven’t seen John since 2002. Fiona swears he still exists and that he’s always at work. I’ll take her at her word. Since I first visited Auchlea, Fiona has won several awards for outstanding service. One even involved meeting Prince Charles and she has a photo to prove it. If we get to Dornoch, we have to stay at Auchlea.

Though this is my best experience at a Scottish B&B, there are many other great examples. Hazel and Laurie Crane at Burness House in St Andrews treated us well and Hazel taught us the ropes about tee times on the various Links Trust courses. In Inverness Margaret and Angus Noble and their miniature Schnauzer Archie at Glendoune B&B treated us well, directed us to great restaurants and Angus gave us detailed directions to Cruden Bay. B&B’s are great places to stay because you get to know the people who are so friendly and helpful.


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