9 Day Scotland Nature, Castles, and Scotch – Points Hotels

The 9 Day Scotland Nature, Castles, and Scotch Itinerary guides you through the culture, scenery, history, and culinary arts of Scotland. The trip begins in the largest city in Scotland, Edinburgh. The center of the itinerary travels to more rural communities including Stirling and Oban. Finally, the itinerary culminates in Inverness for several nights. Where you stay during these stops is important. Staying in the city center helps to keep everything accessible and reduce time and money spent on transit. Additionally, the heart of large cities are often the oldest, most historical, and most exciting location. Unfortunately, this means that accommodations in the heart of the city are more expensive. The following post identifies the best neighborhoods and areas for accommodations in each city of the Scotland Nature, Castles, and Scotch Itinerary. This post also outlines where there are opportunities to stay in points hotels along the journey.

Why a Chain Hotel?

In addition to outlining the optimal neighborhoods, this guide includes the best hotels that are bookable with the most popular points programs (Hyatt, Hilton, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), and Marriott). Staying on points is a great way to reduce the total cost of your trip. Points can allow anyone to afford good 3 and 4-star accommodations in the city center for free.

I will be the first to admit that many of the major hotel chains don’t provide the same experience in these historic cities as you would get if you were staying in a local B&B or guest house. However, with the proliferation of boutique hotels in these chains and cross-brand partnerships (like Hyatt’s partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World), you can get much closer to the boutique feel while staying on points than you could in years past.

One goal of this website is to show methods of aspirational travel that may not otherwise be possible to you. I encourage the use of points if it allows you to take some of these once-in-a-lifetime vacations. Shown below are some of the best hotels for staying on points located along the itinerary route.

Edinburgh Hotels

With Edinburgh being a fairly large city, there are numerous points hotels for visitors to choose from. The best neighborhoods to stay in are the Old Town and New Town areas. The Old Town area includes the vast majority of the attractions such as the Royal Mile. The New Town area is just north of Old Town. It’s within easy walking distance but has a lot of amenities. A little further to the west is the neighborhood of Haymarket. While staying here will mean longer walks to attractions while you are in town, it is a little quieter and has some good hotel options as well. With over 18 points hotel options in these areas, it should be easy to find a place to stay in Edinburgh.

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Stirling Hotels

The next stop on the 9 Day Scotland Itinerary is the town of Stirling. While this town had a significant place in history as a royal city, it is fairly small today. For this reason, the hotel choices are much diminished in Stirling than in Edinburgh. However, there are still a few hotels that can be booked with points. Given that travelers will have a rental car, hotels could be booked outside the center of town. Coincidently this is where all the points hotels are. Since the itinerary only includes one night in Stirling, being outside the city doesn’t cause too much of an issue. However, the downside for the hotels north of the city is that you will need to backtrack some the next morning when driving to Loch Lomond.

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Oban Hotels

Oban, like Stirling, is a small town. Unlike Stirling, there are no hotels that can be booked with points. This is unfortunate for those trying to save money using points. However, this does give travelers the opportunity to stay in a smaller local hotel. Some of those local experiences tend to be my favorites when visiting small towns around the world. For the best location, stay close to the Oban waterfront. This is the Oban downtown area, and most of the attractions will be located here.

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Inverness Hotels

The final overnight location on this itinerary is Inverness. While not as large as Edinburgh, Inverness is the largest city in the Scottish Highlands. For that reason, I was surprised to discover that there are only a couple points hotels around this city. While you only need one hotel to stay in, the limited options might not work for everyone. Therefore, an independent hotel may be desired. In addition, only one of the hotels is actually located in the downtown area. While you will still have access to a rental car at this point in the itinerary, I personally prefer to stay in the city center.

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