The Livingston Inn — Restaurant in Scotland

This place was the worst b&b I have ever experienced.

To start with the outside of the building looks very tatty, hanging baskets with weeds growing in them and dead plants, signs needing to be realigned as they're wonky, cladding falling off the walls etc. But the restaurant didn't look too bad so we thought it might be ok.

We were wrong. Part of the ceiling is falling off as you head up the stairs to the rooms, the light in the hall was broken so we had to walk in darkness to our room. We had requested an early checkin and were told thus was fine, however our room was not ready and a girl came walking in without knocking and said that the room wasn't ready so we were asked to give her 15 mins. We did and found clean linen had been put on the bed (which was falling apart).

However this did not make up for the horrendous room. It clearly had not been fitted out since the 70s or 80s. The fitted wooden headboard had turned white due to age and the chrome fittings were all tarnished or rusty and had cobwebs. The walls had been painted magnolia in an attempt to modernise however they had just painted over the wallpaper and border underneath. The tv was flat screen but was held stable on the wall by a water bottle shoved behind it so it didn't fall off.

Nothing in the bathroom had been fitted properly, towel rail and toilet roll holder etc were all loose. There were yellow stains down the back of the door, round the bottom of the shower had clearly not been cleaned for some time as there was a lot of dust and hairs. The extractor fan just went to a hole in the roof and I presume because the rain had been allowed to fall onto the fan it didn't work so the bedroom steamed up a lot when the shower was used.

The worst part was that our window didn't shut. The handle had broken and therefore it was totally insecure and as it was first floor it really wouldn't have been hard for someone to climb in. How any place can hire out a room like that is entirely beyond me.

I did wonder whether some of the rooms were being refurbished but after hearing some of the other guests at breakfast i don't think this is the case.

I asked for toast at breakfast and got some made from bread that clearly went stale days ago.

I have to say the staff were very friendly and helpful but I seriously get the impression that this was out of pity as they knew what our rooms were like. This place needs closing down for a complete refurb especially as the pictures of rooms on various websites show clean modern rooms.

My advice is to avoid this place...

Popular centrepoint for the large rural area round about, and well-known even in the town of Livingstone some distance away. About half a dozen draught beers including Asahi and Belhaven Best. Large menu of upmarket pub favourites, fairly typical of a country inn. Service is acceptably brisk and efficient. Livingstone Inn is an enormous building, and has a large bar area with a choice of wooden chairs or sofa seats to sink into. Unobtrusive soft rock in the background, Black Velvet style. The addition of bedrooms could make it ideal for exploring the myriad and splendid countryside walks (and cycle paths) with forests gorges and the heritage centre a short walk away (waitress said all the rooms are contract and not available to the public — yet I found some on the popular booking site.) Kitchen and bar is from midday to mid-evening. The adjacent ‘village’ comprises the Inn, a trendy barbershop with a beauty salon on one side and a cafe on the other. That’s it. (Though apparently there’s also a post-office somewhere.) I went for lunch, mid-week. I was more than satisfied with what I felt was an above-average chicken & bacon salad. Minor criticism is that the staff seemed a bit rushed off their feet, even with just a handful...

Just popped in for lunch! Unplanned, no booking, hadn't been back for about 6 years! Well, nothing had changed except some decor and COVID protocols. No probs as all in order 😀 Ambience is very important and it's very comfortable and relaxed. Super range of food in the menu, and at a particularly reasonable price compared to other places I have eaten in recently. So having a guest with me i was a bit concerned that the low price might reflect on the quality of the food. Not only was I wrong to be worried, but my guest and I agreed that the food was of a very high standard. My guest commented - three times! - on how good his beef and ale pie was, with plenty of beef, lots of gravy and in a delicious pastry. I would have been in "food envy" but my battered fish was superb. Fresh, thick (and large) haddock in a crisp well tasty, and perfectly cooked batter, .... and with a nice wee pot of mushy peas! So we were enjoying ourselves and couldn't resist the Bramley Apple pie - choice of custard or ice cream - great! Service was excellent. "Good old Livvy...