LeJjog hotels

[blackrat]

Riding LeJog doing 80 - 100 miles a day means 10 - 12 nights in an hotel -if not camping - and hotels have become extremely expensive, no matter the chain.
Once upon a time it was possible to stay in B&B's - farmhouses or such - for a reasonable price often with a good breakfast. Sadly there seems not to be any kind of register to find private homes offering accommodation these days.
Riding between Lairg and Thurso there are a good number of houses with signs offering B&B off the side of the road but no way to know before hand where they are or if they have spaces for a sorry cyclist. As costs rise astronomically, riding LeJog will become beyond the purse of many would be adventurers who want a bed to seelp in. It does not have to be en suite, I can share a bathroom with a family (I did when I rode across Iowa).
Anyway, I'm just adding a comment to say that LeJog riders are facing limited options with rising costs these days and it is only going to get more expensive.

 

[Pblakeney]

Riding LeJog doing 80 - 100 miles a day means 10 - 12 nights in an hotel -if not camping - and hotels have become extremely expensive, no matter the chain.
Once upon a time it was possible to stay in B&B's - farmhouses or such - for a reasonable price often with a good breakfast. Sadly there seems not to be any kind of register to find private homes offering accommodation these days.
Riding between Lairg and Thurso there are a good number of houses with signs offering B&B off the side of the road but no way to know before hand where they are or if they have spaces for a sorry cyclist. As costs rise astronomically, riding LeJog will become beyond the purse of many would be adventurers who want a bed to seelp in. It does not have to be en suite, I can share a bathroom with a family (I did when I rode across Iowa).
Anyway, I'm just adding a comment to say that LeJog riders are facing limited options with rising costs these days and it is only going to get more expensive.

My only experience of touring was a long time ago using B&Bs as you mentioned. My strategy was to ride until 15:00 and to stay at the next decent sized town within an hour or two cycling. Worked okay then and that was before mobile phones, far less the internet.

 

[Brandane]

It's not just LEJOG, it's pretty much UK wide. Hotel prices, like everything else, seemed to shoot up post covid. And providing breakfast became too much hassle and was dropped in a lot of places. On top of that, not many places will allow you to bring your bike inside, and don't have anywhere safe to store it. So you take your chances of still having a bike in the morning. Locked or not.

On the rare occasions I go UK bike touring now (thanks to the above) I try to stick with Travelodge or Premier Inn as they are more bike friendly. But expect to pay upwards of £100 per night now. Ridiculous.

My solution? Go to France instead. Just so much more bike friendly in every way. On the road and off it. Plenty of hotel chains for all budgets, with staff who don't look horrified when you say you have a bike with you. Years ago I had ambitions of doing LEJOG but now I have been put off by the state of UK roads, the weather, the attitudes of drivers, and the costs involved (I don't do camping, too old for that torture).

@blackrat think you are USA based? To be perfectly honest, do yourself a favour (favor!) and give cycling in the UK a miss. Go to France, Germany, Holland instead and you'll love it.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

You can try the Cornmill bunkhouse

https://independenthostels.co.uk/members/cornmillbunkhouse/

 

[Pblakeney]

@blackrat think you are USA based? To be perfectly honest, do yourself a favour (favor!) and give cycling in the UK a miss. Go to France, Germany, Holland instead and you'll love it.

This.

 

[PeteXXX]

Is the YHA an option for you?
Dearer than they were but still cheaper than hotels. Catering for yourself in their kitchens can bring the price down, too.
I varied my overnight stops between YHA, travelodge and camping depending on where I was on any given night.

 

[fossyant]

Even a bed in a pub is £140 plus. Premier Inn/Travel lodge mid week - Sunday to Thursday are around the £60 per night. Camping isn't cheap, but you'll find many camp sites will accommodate a bike or back packer.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Riding between Lairg and Thurso

The main point you make in the OP is valid; 'I feel your pain.'
The mechanism for finding out B&Bs en route is commercialised and the prices charged, mostly reflect that (together with local quality assurance etc etc which the unpicky cyclist doesn't need). I just want a bed for the night: breakfast in the morning a bonus (with the downside of such delaying departure, which is fine if only in the saddle 8 hours).
I was part lucky north of Lairg. I had reached out to the Crask Inn (11 miles N) ten days before and checked there'd be a bed. When I phoned earlier in that day, from Beauly I was told 'no we're full'. I said I'm coming anyway. Got there, chased by midges, had supper and they'd 'found' a bunk bed over the road.
The Crask Inn had been taken over by Christians but it looks to be back as an inn.

Not many dwellings let alone B&Bs between Lairg and Bettyhill so I assume you spotted 'roadside' B&Bs along the north coast. Demand from 'North Coast 500' motorists has increased supply (Durness - Wick outside towns) but market forces dictate the per bed cost (more per capita for the lone traveller). Of course motorists can just 'drive on' and will pass enough to get lucky: not so easy for us. There seems no resource to discover and communicate with these 'roadside B&Bs' when planning. this is the best i can find:
https://www.scotland.org.uk/essential-travel-information/tourist-information-centres

@PeteXXX mentions YHs. SYHA has no hostel northeast of Lairg. More broadly, when I look to use YHs so many of them (YHA) have been turned over to 'whole hostel' booking and one can't filter those out during the search process. On my end-to-end I used the 'Great Glen' hostel at Laggan (N of Ft William, now £30pn) and then the one on the 'Mainland' at Kirkwall en route to the ferry to Aberdeen (and flight south).

SiH: https://www.scottish-hostels.com/find-a-hostel#map-component
Just S of Melvich:
https://www.scottish-hostels.com/business-listings/corn-mill-bunkhouse

Independenthostels
https://independenthostels.co.uk/members/bunkhouseatinvershin/

 

[steverob]

Even a bed inn a pub is £140 plus. Premier Inn/Travel lodge mid week - Sunday to Thursday are around the £60 per night. Camping isn't cheap, but you'll find many camp sites will accommodate a bike or back packer.

You can certainly get some good value Premier Inn et al prices midweek outside of school holidays, but it's mainly for the ones at the edges of towns rather than the town/city centre ones, which typically means it's located on a bypass or at a motorway junction. That's fine, but if you are someone who has deliberately plotted their route to avoid the worst of traffic, it does mean the first and last 2-3 miles of each of those days will probably be something you're not going to look forward to.