Caledonian Canal Centre & Lock Chambers — Attraction in Scotland

Myself and another canal user visited Fort Augustus to see the locks dewatered for maintenance, Then we decided to have lunch in the new £2 million canal centre. Having followed the project from purchase to opening and having seen adverts for Chefs, sous chefs assistant chefs etc with fairly high salaries I expected culinary excellence, I was sadly disappointed a choice from 10 fairly basic , but costly dishes. Only one member of staff on the counter at 1pm who was obviously unhappy in her role, she was quite abrupt with the family from Europe who were ahead of me and there was irritation at the language problems. Considering there are only 10 items to choose from how difficult would it be to translate the menu into several languages? Having said that she was fine with me, but agitated when the till/contactless payment system failed to operate (£28,000 spent on IT, wonder where? ) apparently it’s a regular problem.

I came back from my table to ask for milk for the coffee....”Over there” was the retort from a male member of staff, it wasn’t obvious and it was hidden by other customers. The soup was OK, not brilliant and not worth £4.30 , but I suppose they need to recover the £2 million quickly. I watched staff come out from the kitchen area with food orders and walk back empty handed, passing cluttered dirty tables.....an absolute crime in the hospitality trade ! Eventually the supervisor came out to clear the tables next to me, as he wiped them , he wiped debris from the table onto the seat and left it!!!

We decided to check out the “canal centre “ a small room with some interesting images, I was impressed with the interactive how to tie knots display, until I noticed it was fastened with electrical tie wraps....not spliced.....

The shop sells mainly tourist tat , though there is a very expensive tartan shop adjacent.

My highlight was the local ice cream....though it’s not strictly local But the young lady who served us was delightful.

I cannot see where Scottish Canals have spent £1.4 million on refurbishing this building to house a cafe which has mediocre offerings in comparison to the privately operated businesses...

What a wonderful place to stay. The rooms modern and spacious with towels, tea and coffee and hair dryer provided. The rooms were warm, and had lovely window views of Fort Augustus. The little outside space is a wonderful addition to the room, with tables and chairs which looks over the canal. The communication was 10/10 and you had every detail needed upon arrival.||||You are right in the centre of the village. With a few places to choose from to eat, all of which looked fab. We ate at the Bothy which had wonderful service and sold great pub grub, and was family friendly.||||There is a petrol station near by with a shop for anything extra you might want.||||During the day there are lots of lovely places to have lunch and grab a coffee from. We are in the Canal cafe which was lovely breakfast and coffee and a delightful shop too. We also had soup and a panini in little café opposite which was lovely too.||||I would throughly recommend using the cruise Loch Ness boat trip from here too. The tour guides were fab and the trip lasted a good 50 min. You can grab a drink and snack on this trip too.||||Parking - there is a car park near by. However, opposite the hotel is marked parking which is...

What a wonderful place to stay. The rooms modern and spacious with towels, tea and coffee and hair dryer provided. The rooms were warm, and had lovely window views of Fort Augustus. The little outside space is a wonderful addition to the room, with tables and chairs which looks over the canal. The communication was 10/10 and you had every detail needed upon arrival.||||You are right in the centre of the village. With a few places to choose from to eat, all of which looked fab. We ate at the Bothy which had wonderful service and sold great pub grub, and was family friendly.||||There is a petrol station near by with a shop for anything extra you might want.||||During the day there are lots of lovely places to have lunch and grab a coffee from. We are in the Canal cafe which was lovely breakfast and coffee and a delightful shop too. We also had soup and a panini in little café opposite which was lovely too.||||I would throughly recommend using the cruise Loch Ness boat trip from here too. The tour guides were fab and the trip lasted a good 50 min. You can grab a drink and snack on this trip too.||||Parking - there is a car park near by. However, opposite the hotel is marked parking which is...