The House of Bruar (Scotland) Reviews

Don't go in here unless you have a 6 figure salary. Cold and unwelcoming.

Great place to visit the scenery backdrop is stunning ,good food and fabulous choice of clothes even just to look

Great selection of Scottish food and gifts. Too expensive for me though.

We stop for lunch when passing for a treat, but didn't enjoy it this time

Absolutely stunning gem of a place. Right next to a beautiful river and waterfalls. Lovely cafe and shopping complex. Definitely worth a visit!!

I have been here a few times now and it is a great shopping experience. It also has a great eatery.

A good place to stop on the way up or down the A9. Essentially a service station and hard to miss. Good range of products and friendly staff and worth a visit for any meal of the day really. Has all your tartan needs taken care of as well if you are so inclined. Worth noting it is very expensive though and often busy.

Jean and I live near Fort William, and visited the House of Bruar sale for the first time on Friday 08 Nov: we had a great time apart from Jean missing the front door step and swan-diving through the entrance! However, nothing was hurt More

Whatever you do, do not order anything online from this company. I ordered a pair of gloves from them. They arrived with holes in the stitching. I contacted The House of Bruar to get the issue resolved. They asked me to return the gloves to them. I did this immediately. After waiting about 11 days there was absolutely no communication at all from the company. I contacted Jeney who had asked me to return the gloves and asked her what was going on. She told me that I need to email someone called Leanne. I emailed Leanne and waited a few days - no reply. I then called Leanne. Leanne immediately told me that I was talking to the wrong person and that she would have to transfer me. I was then transferred to somebody called Kirsty who was very apologetic and said that she would go to the warehouse, check the gloves herself and send them with free next day delivery to make up for all the trouble.... four days later I still hadn't received the gloves, an email, a call.. nothing. I've just called the company again to ask for a refund because for a pair of gloves this has taken up an exceptional amount of my time. I have apparently been granted a refund by a barely apologetic lady. I'll be interested to see if that turns up at all! Appalling service. Do not use.

Thank you for very efficiently sending to me the scarf which I left in the restaurant last Sunday en route for the train back to England. The restaurant manager was very helpful and this was excellent customer service.

Beautiful surroundings typical highland setting but shop is NOT just for the wealthy.

Used as a service stop on a9 and as always a treat!

Complete rip off price wise. Could also do with more toilets, esp with changing facilities for children. Stood in a queue for ages and ended up changing our grandson in the back of the car.

First time I have stopped here and was surprised how nice it was.

Everything they sell is top quality and reasonably priced.

Good place to visit if you like wearing top brands and eating quality food.

There's a chippy outside that honestly sells the best chips I have ever had. And where else can you buy lobster and Chips.

Well worth a visit, and know I'll be back to pick up some Stornaway black pudding.

Courteous and pleasant staff members in every area, also with no pressure sales when browsing men's clothing department.

Recommended

Lovely location with a fine seletion of crafts, clothes and delicious food and drinks.

Sadly it's priced for people who aren't used to the exchange rate making it just too expensive for most locals.

Dispite knowing this I recently went to the restaurant with my family as a treat. We ordered 3 meals. They were fine until I found a chunk of clear plastic in the sauce. Foolishly I handed it to the waitress who took it away and only to return and inform us that the chef said it was just a piece of meat. My eye sight is perfect and I regularly eat crackling with roast dinners so I was very disappointed with the response and the implied insult.

In future I'll drive little further south before I stop and ensure that I leave this kind of treatment to tourists who similarly won't ever return.

Always very busy. Excellent selection of products if a little expensive. We stop for food and its good quality.

Always visit when we are in Scotland. Great place to visit. Friendly staff. Great shops and great cafe.

Lovely cafe plenty of shopping to be done and a good walk to the waterfall something for all the family.

It has everything from scrumptious food in the restaurant to a butchers, bakers, a deli upmarket clothes for men and women, a fishing shop and assorted other goods. Well worth a visit

Very nice shopping experience, excellent food hall and cafe with more formal restaurant too.

This is like Harrod's tucked away somewhere in Scotland. TheFood Halls alone are worth get lost in, and the possibility to sample is fantastic. Shall stop here again on my next trip up and down the Highlands!

Nice things for ladies and gentleman as well as great food ...

Very nice but, to me a bit expensive. I walked into the gentleman's clothes outlet and immediately felt scruffy, so I left. It is also known as The Harrods of the North. Prices are a bit much for me but, others may find it OK.

Super sweet historical place. It's quite hidden, but totally worth it.

Meticulous order and quality stuff, food and clothes.

Always high standard of food and service though pricey!

Love the shop. Even if we do not always purchase anything it's a great place to stop.

Great stop on the A9. Shopping and food always stop on the way home.

Brilliant have to go each time we're near. Great shopping, good food, nice walk up the waterfall behind to walk off the good lunch. Thoughtful about dogs in cars.

This is a great shopping experience pricy but first class products and restaurant

We stopped in looking for petrol and found this fabulous place. There is something for everyone and the scones are huge! Loved it, pity I leave for Australia today..

Fantastic shopping experience for a range of tastes (and prices!). Knitwear, outdoor clothing, food. The real reason to visit however is the food hall; the cheese selection is outrageously good and you'll kick yourself if you go up the A9 without stopping in.

This place is situated on the A9 and not far from Blair Atholl and easy to find. In fact you can't miss it as it's just off the main road. A great place to stop to help break your journey up. Stop for breakfast or lunch as it's typical Scottish fare. There's definitely a lot on offer here if wanting quality cloths, foot ware etc.
Fish and chip out front too it also sells ice cream.

Nice place to stop and eat with some very good shops.

Great place to stop on the long drive up the A9. A bit expensive but great food selection.

Very overpriced but helpful staff and a nice look around after a walk up by the falls.

I didn't look around the store, but I visited the restaurant. The menu is horrendously overpriced. The queue was insanely long and there wasn't nearly enough staff to deal with it. I watched staff clear tables of plates but not bother to clean them, so they were still dirty. I didn't eat there, as the queue was too long to wait in. The food would have been cold by the time I was able to sit down to eat it.
The toilets were clean but the queue there was very long, too. There weren't quite enough toilets to deal with it efficiently. I wouldn't return.

We visit every year as we pass it on our way up to Aviemore. It breaks the journey and allows you the chance to have a cup of tea and a bite to eat before your onward travel. Its a smashing place to stop off at, although the prices are a bit steep, you can sometimes find a real bargain in amongst the pricey stuff. They primarily sell 'Country attire' for men and women, so if that is your bag then stop off and have a look. I can recommend the small produce shop that is there though. The Bruar steak pie is delicious and we always get one for our dinner when we arrive at our lodge in Aviemore. They sell a great selection of Scottish produce, jams, marmalades, chutneys, bakery goods and confectionary.
There is also a large stand alone shop seperate from the main House of Bruar site, just next door, which mostly houses their sale items and clearance lines, and also deals with their online catalogue sales. The clothes are of an excellent quality and provide good value for money at the sale prices, but as for buying them at full price, I would say no. You would need to be wealthy to buy items from Bruar on a regular basis. They stock Burberry, Barbour, Belstaff, Lyle and Scott etc.
They also have a well stocked Homewares department and I have picked up a few bargains in there over the years. They stock kitchen items and soft furnishings alongside art and collectible items for decorative purposes for the home. Again some of the stuff they sell is pricey, but lovely to look at. They also have a kids department in this area which sells clothing for kids 0-4years and toys for kids and infants. Again it is stocked with high end well known brands of the more pricey kind. Keep an eye out for reductions in all departments in January as this is when they will appear throughout all the retail departments on site. We love stopping at the House of Bruar, it's a highlight of our annual trip to the Highlands.

Discounts on limited number of clothes, with others very expensive, even for food and drink.

A pleasant hour or two browsing but overpriced and I've been told they're not good to staff.

Nice place, good food and a lovely walk just behind it

Not the most wheelchair friendly place I have ever been but it is okay once you have found a low kerb. It's a speciality retail outlet with prices to match. I have seen it now so I don't think I'll be back.

Fantastic! We have driven past it so many times but never stopped. Very well worth a visit. I was hoping to look at sheepskin coats & jackets but sadly they did not have any...out of season I think. Otherwise it's a great place...where else can you get lobster & chips @ a chippy? They care for all tastes & have what looked like a great restaurant. We would certainly go back.

Great place to stop off on the journey north. Food in Restuarant is fresh and good quality. The staff in the retail sections are friendly and welcoming.

Too expensive for most, ok if you're planning hunting, shooting, fishing in tweeds. Food hall wasn't too bad for price and good choice.

Expensive! Really expensive. But worth a visit to have a look around.

Huge range of products, excellent food section. Excellent cafe/restaurant. I call it the Harrods of Scotland.

Ok if you are looking for a bite to eat
Otherwise overpriced country wear

Popular for tourist, very large range of food, and clothing also large range of household items, large restaurant.

Fantastic Scottish goods shopping experience with a very good cafe/restaurant. We'll worth a visit.

Been stopping here on the way up to my grandparents for years. Has grown a lot and caters to lots of needs. Good ice cream and local produce. Best bathroom stop on the A9

A must if you love cashmere but do not look at the prices of most items.

Crowded, but good range of products, large restaurant and plenty of parking spaces.

Wonderful as always and very polite helpful staff. The soup was lovely.

Posh place for posh things that you find yourself justifying because you're a pleb. I nearly bought a horn mug as I'm Highland as heck then I remembered I live down in Brighton now and I'm a wannabe highlander. The shame. It's nice and the staff are always nice

Particularly like the deli and butchery departments, some great choices in the drinks section and fantastic food available in the restaurant. All the usual selection of countrywear and not all as expensive as you might think, worth a day out to explore and you can always visit the falls of Bruar if you fancy a workout in your walking shoes. Recommend this place highly.

Love the House of Bruar and visit it everytime we go home to Wick to visit. We passed it on Sunday and stopped to try the Fish n Chip shop, I had Haddock and my hubster had a Cod supper, the fish was light fluffy and fresh and full of flavour no generic flavours at all. the chips were super and tasted very traditional. We also has mushy peas which were the best mushy peas we have tasted in a long time, full of flavour and just the right consistency. It is definitely our number 1 at the moment