The ''Scottish Highlander'' is a boutique

hotel barge A hotel barge (fr. ''péniche hôtel'') is a barge that has been built or converted to serve as a hotel or other kind of lodging. Hotel barges are generally found on rivers and canals in Europe, and may be used for river cruises or permanently moo ...

cruising the

Caledonian Canal The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Route The canal r ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, from

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

to Fort William. She is a

Luxe motor A Luxe motor is a type of Dutch barge, built for the first time in the early 1920s. Most vessels had a straight bow ('Steilsteven') with characteristic upsweep of the gunwale and good accommodation for living at the back of the ship, from which the ...

Dutch steel barge. She is a member of the fleet of hotel barges owned by

European Waterways European Waterways is an international company based in Berkshire, England that operates a fleet of 17 river cruising vessels along the rivers and canals of Europe. The company takes old trading barges and converts them into hotel barges. Co ...

History

Scottish Highlander Hotel Barge Cruising

She was built in 1931, by Gebroeders Van Zutphen, in

Vreeswijk Vreeswijk is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The municipality merged with Jutphaas in 1971, and is now the southern half of the town of Nieuwegein. The former village was located on the Lek River, near where ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

as a trading barge. She was christened the ''Vertrouwen'', meaning "trust" in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. She served as a trading barge for her first 60 years, transporting grain and various commodities throughout the Netherlands. In 1991, she was purchased by J.P. Leisure Limited. After a renovation in the

she sailed to Inverness in April 1993 to begin her career as a passenger ship. In 1999 she was purchased by Derek Banks to become part of the

fleet of hotel barges. From 1999 to 2000 she was completely renovated and was renamed ''Scottish Highlander''. She was refurbished again in 2006. As a working hotel barge she cruises in Scotland on the Caledonian Canal with up to 8 passengers. She has four passenger cabins, three crew cabins, and a saloon. She is crewed by a captain, tour guide, chef and housekeeper.

References

External links

European Waterways Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Highlander (Barge) Hotel barges Loch Ness Barges 1931 ships Hotels established in 2000 1931 establishments in the Netherlands 2000 establishments in Scotland Hotels in Highland (council area)