A top hotel on the ever-popular North Coast 500 is hoping to entice travellers by offering to help them with their fuel costs.
Inver Lodge Hotel, which is found halfway around the famous route, close to the picturesque fishing village of Lochinver, is giving 16% back to guests who book directly, to be used towards either petrol or diesel.
The move, which is thought to be the first of its kind, is a bid to encourage more people to travel to the Highlands as staff at the hotel have noticed that there are fewer people travelling to the region in comparison to the same period of the year, in the past.
All guests need to do is to add their number plate details at the time of booking.
"We really wanted to do something for those travelling in the area," General Manager Janet Boyd explained. "Online travelling agencies seem to be making a lot more money and not passing this along to the customers, so we thought about how we can get all of our guests with cars to come and book direct with us, and make things a little bit more enticing for them.
"We looked at the average price of petrol in Scotland and it was £1.61 at the time - so we decided to offer a 16% discount."
The warm and welcoming hotel is considered to be a bit of a hidden gem, even for people travelling on the famous road trip circuit.
With 21 rooms all offering sea views and a 2 AA Rosette restaurant, which is considered to be one of the best eateries in the Highlands, the family-run hotel is one definitely worth travelling to.
As Janet explains: "We are a very relaxed modern hotel, with a real sense of space and calm, that offers a real Highland welcome.
"Loch Inver is quite a magical place, and all of our bedrooms have sea views, and no matter where you sit in the restaurant you will also have a phenomenal view."
The hotel manager, who lives on-site, joked that the only room without a sea view is her own accommodation.
Though they hope people will book in advance to get the discount, Janet confirmed that if people turn up and they have the rooms available, she will still offer the fuel discount.
And you don't have to be doing the NC500 to qualify.
"The hotel is popular with walkers who are maybe travelling by car to climb the nearby Suilven Mountian or heading south to tackle Stac Pollaidh, as well as those enjoying our beautiful beaches, and we will of course be offering them the same discount."
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